Friend or Foe?
by Houston-san
Summary: Luffy and his crew are looking forward to their next adventure but in the shadows behind them lurks a new challenge to the Strawhat crew.
1. Chapter 1

**FRIEND OR FOE! NEITHER! ENTER NEW RIVALS!**

Luffy and his crew are currently sailing on their way to the New World itching for new adventures and more excitement than ever before. However, unknown to them, a new challenge lurks in their shadows behind them. At a certain island, a man is walking into a bar. He's about 5'11" with short brown hair and a medium build body wearing loose black pants and a black vest. On his back is a katana sword and around his waist on his back are two daggers with a middle sized sword on his left hip. As he steps into the bar, the volume begins to lower to a murmur as he steps closer to the bartender. As he approaches the bar, several people turn their gaze to him, intently and deeply wondering his true intentions. The man sits in a stool and slams down a gold coin as he hunches over and folds his arms on the bar table.

"What will it be?" The bartender is cleaning a glass while looking at the guy. He sets the glass down in front of him and pushes it in front of the man sitting in the stool. As the glass stops right in front of the guy, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a piece of paper.

"Information. Have you seen this man?" He unravels the piece of paper to show a wanted poster. The people in the bar inch closer as if to peek their eyes into the conversation itself. The bartender looks down at the poster and smirks.

"Roronoa Zoro? Yeah, he was just here not too long ago. I believe he said he was heading out to meet up with his captain." The man's eyes lit up quickly as he sits up straight. Everyone gasps in the room at the mention of Zoro's name.

"Do you know which way he was headed?"

"Not specifically. But I noticed the ship he got on heading east further down the grand line a while ago." The man grabs the paper and stuffs it back into his pocket as he stands up and starts heading for the door.

"Thanks for the tip!" He bursts through the door and dashes towards the coast avoiding people on the street. When he arrives at the coast, there is a man lying down on the beach. He's about 6'2" with dark blood red hair braided in cornrows that ties back into a ponytail. His body is huge and very heavily layered with thick muscles and coated in dark skin. He's wearing black and yellow shorts with white and yellow sandals and a black tank top with a wheat stem in his mouth. As the man gets closer, the man on the beach looks up at him and smiles cheerfully.

"Kazu! You finished going through the town?" Kazu continues walking right past him and as he gets close to the water, he slowly gets into a sprinter's stance. The man on the beach goes from lying down with his hands on the back of his head to sitting up. "Man, are you ignoring me again? Look, if it's about me singing when you're sleeping I am sorry." Kazu quickly dashes off and begins running on top of the water out to sea. The man extends his hand out towards the sea as if reaching for Kazu. "Hey, hey, hey! Kazu! Where are you going?" The man on the beach shrugs his shoulders as Kazu fades into the distance from view. As he lies back down on the beach and places his hands back on to the back of his head, about three people come up behind him and look at the man.

"Hey Captain, have you seen Vice Captain Kazu?" The captain nods his head and points out in the direction Kazu just left.

"Yeah, he just left heading that way." The three people become utterly surprised.

"What? He left? Why didn't you go with him?" The captain shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly.

"He'll be alright. I'm not gonna worry about it." The three men look at each other and then rush the Captain and grab him. The captain immediately begins trying to push them off but they hold on to him tightly.

"Come on! We're going after him."

"Let me go! I want to relax! It's the beach!" They carry him off the beach and on to a pirate ship with a jolly roger that has an iron skull with iron spinal cords crossing behind the skull instead of normal bones with an insignia around the spinal cords. They immediately set sail out into the sea and begin following after Kazu. Meanwhile, far off in the ocean, the Strawhat pirates are living another day like any other. Sanji is in the kitchen cooking while Nami is in her room drawing out her maps and Robin is reading a book. Zoro is training up in the look-out tower and Brook is with him sipping some tea keeping an eye out for the next island. Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp are on the stern side fishing and Franky is below deck doing daily maintenance with the ship.

"Hey, Usopp you haven't caught anything yet?"

"No Luffy because YOU keep scaring the fish!"

"So it's a mystery." Usopp taps Luffy's head with the side of his hand repeatedly.

"Hey. It's not a mystery." Just then Chopper squeals.

"Hey! Guys I got a bite!" Luffy and Usopp quickly move over to be behind Chopper and watch him start pulling the rod in. Chopper transforms into his human beast form and the two help him tug. All three fall back onto the deck of the ship and see a nice sized fish in front of them. They quickly throw the fish in the aquarium tank and cheer by holding hands and jumping up and down while moving in a circle.

"Good job Chopper! Alright! My turn to catch something." Usopp quickly grabs Luffy's fishing pole.

"Wait Luffy! Let me show you how the GREAT CAPTAIN USOPP fishes and catch the manliest fish EVER!" Luffy and Chopper's face lights up with excitement.

"Yeah! Go Usopp!" Usopp leans back as he balances his body on one leg and brings his hand with the fishing pole in it behind his back. He quickly turns his body and launches the fishing line out into the sea. The two watching 'ooh' and 'ahh' as they see the line fly outwards. Usopp smirks at his proud achievement of launching the fishing line out to sea but something catches his eye in the distance. He squints his eyes and looks out to sea.

"Hey, you guys, what is that?" The two look out in the distance with him but Chopper and Luffy stare intently not able to see anything. Chopper looks up at Usopp with a sorrowful guilt.

"I don't see anything Usopp." Usopp pulls his goggles down and focuses them to zoom in on the tiny object he sees in the distance.

"Let's see…I wonder what that is?" Usopp focuses the lens and he begins to see a man running on top of the sea heading towards him. "Hey, hey, hey, hey! THERE'S A MAN RUNNING ON THE OCEAN HEADING STRAIGHT TOWARDS US!" Chopper goes into a high pitched scream with Usopp as Luffy turns to look at him questioningly.

"Usopp, you don't have to lie."

"I'm not lying Luffy! Look for yourself!" Usopp thrusts a pair of binoculars into Luffy's face and Luffy immediately gets excited.

"Woohoo! I see him! He's running on the water! I wonder how he's doing that? Do you think he'll want to join us?"

"Come on Luffy, don't ask him to join us! I got the scared of people running on water disease."

"Me too Luffy!" Luffy looks at Usopp and Chopper and frowns. Meanwhile, out in the distance, the man running on the water is Vice Captain Kazu. As he looks ahead, he can see the Strawhat ship in the distance which brings a smile to his face. He places his right hand on the dagger behind his back and unsheathes it quickly.

"Finally…it's Strawhat's ship! RORONOA ZORO! I'LL TEAR YOU APART!" Kazu jumps into the air towards the ship. As he comes down in the air he lands on the watch tower. "KAI FIGHTING STYLE….DANCE OF SHADOWS!" Kazu spins in the air and then cuts open the tower with his attack. As his attack pierces through the watch tower, Zoro senses the incoming attack and quickly grabs his sword and deflects it from going towards the deck of the ship. As the watch tower room is split in half. The ceiling begins to slide off from the lookout and hits the deck.

"YOHOHOHOHO! That was close! EVERYONE! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" Brook shouts to everyone else on the ship as Zoro stares at the far side wall to see Kazu crouched on the edge of the tower looking dead at Zoro.

"You bastard! Who are you?" Kazu chuckles to himself as he smiles with an evil stare and clenched fists gripped around his daggers as he had drew the second one out and holds one in each hand.

"Roronoa Zoro…" Kazu then takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. When he opens his eyes his whole body is now relaxed and at ease and he smiles truthfully at Zoro. "Yo!" At the same time, Usopp has been running around the ship screaming.

"EVERYONE! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK! PLEASE HELP US!" The door to Nami's room opens as she slowly steps out.

"What is going on out here?" She turns her head to look at Usopp running around in circles, Chopper cowering behind Luffy who is looking up at the watch tower. Then she looks over to Robin who is walking over to her. "Robin, what is Usopp screaming about?" Robin pulls some of her long hair back behind her ear as she smiles and points to the watch tower.

"Someone was running on the water towards us and leaped up to the watch tower and cut it." She points at the watch tower and Nami slowly turns her head to look up and see the ceiling to the tower cut off and on the deck floor.

"WHAT IN THE WORLD?" She turns her attention immediately to Luffy who is still staring up at the watch tower. "Luffy, why aren't you doing anything?" Luffy remains silent and intently watches the lookout tower as Franky pops his head up from below deck and Sanji comes out of the kitchen.

"HEY! Nami-swan! Robin-chwan!" Sanji runs over to Nami and Robin while holding his hands together on his right cheek.

"What was that noise from earlier?" Franky turns his head to see the ceiling to the watch tower and immediately looks up at the watch tower. "DAMNIT ZORO! CONTROL YOURSELF UP THERE!" Back on the watch tower, Zoro is holding all three of his swords and is poised to fight but Vice Captain Kazu is still smiling with his two daggers drawn.

"You bastard, stop smiling and tell me who you are!" Kazu takes a deep breath and looks up at the sky. While still looking at the sky he drops from the top of the watch tower to the floor.

"Roronoa Zoro…DIE!" In the blink of an eye Kazu runs by Zoro and cuts him in his side. Zoro gasps at the wound and immediately spins around to a quarter turn.

"SANTOURYUU…" Kazu quickly turns his head to look at Zoro. "TATSUMAKI!" Just then the air spins around Kazu and blows him upwards. Kazu moves in the whirlwind and avoids the cutting gusts of wind and as he freefalls towards the room, takes one of his daggers and raises it above his head.

"SKY AXE!" Kazu swings his arm straight downward towards Zoro as he stands firm and places all three of his swords above his head to block it. After he blocks the attack, some of the slash hits the floor and scars the deck of the ship. Franky, Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper avoid it as Nami screams from the force of the attack. Sanji immediately turns his head up to the watch tower and screams.

"Hey you Marimo bastard, STOP DAMAGING THE SHIP!" Nami hits Sanji over the head.

"It's not Zoro! Someone's up there doing this! Luffy! Stop standing there like an idiot and do something!" Luffy turns his head and looks at Nami.

"Don't worry about it. Zoro can handle it. Besides, whoever is up there is more interested in Zoro. Let him handle this." Back in the watch tower, Zoro and Kazu are continually clashing their weapons together as the two look for an opening to strike a blow. Kazu dodges all of Zoro's swings as Zoro ends up blocking most of Kazu's.

"You're too slow Zoro! Too exhausted from training?"

"Be quiet. NITOURYUU IIYA….RASHOUMAN!" Suddenly Zoro flies across the floor and comes down hard with a quick draw slice from his two swords which Kazu blocks but the force of the swing still goes past the block and cuts both of Kazu's shoulders. Kazu laughs loudly with full deep chuckles that rumble from his stomach.

"Zoro…Zoro…I WILL DESTROY YOUR SWORDSMANSHIP!" Kazu turns his wrists and kicks Zoro in the stomach to knock him across the room in to the wall and before Zoro can recover he kicks him again through the wall and Zoro falls to the deck of the ship. Usopp and Luffy run over to Zoro immediately.

"Zoro! Are you okay?" Zoro coughs up blood as he breathes heavily while struggling to hold himself up.

"Stay back! I'm fine Luffy." Brook cowers in the corner of the watch room but as he turns his head he notices a ship in the distance steadily approaching. He quickly runs over to the speaker system and grabs the microphone.

"LUFFY! THERE'S A SHIP APPROACHING FROM THE STERN! IT'S A PIRATE SHIP!" Kazu keeps his eyes on Zoro as everyone else turns their attention to the ship approaching. Usopp uses his goggles to zoom in on the ship. The ship is huge, roughly the same size as the Thousand Sunny, with two sails and giant oars attached to the side of the ship that have a red marking wrapping around them that matches the marking around the bones in the jolly roger. On top of each sail is a flag pole with their pirate flag attached which consists of a jolly roger with a metal skull and bones and some red marking that goes around the bones. Written across both of the sails that are black in red ink is 'Steel Chest'. The ship itself is made up of dark colored wood that appears to look almost black with a red tint in the sunlight. Behind the sails is a door that leads to a huge room and above that room on the roof is the helm. At the back of the ship is a huge propeller system that uses the blades of a windmill that is in the water.

"Usopp, is Brook right?"

"Yeah! It's definitely a pirate ship!" Just then Kazu lands on the deck in front of Zoro. Zoro leaps up to his feet and swings his blades at Kazu but he dodges it and counters with a fist to Zoro's face to slam him down to the ground.

"Your blades are dull and your passion is dead…soon your heart will follow." Over on the pirate ship that is steadily approaching, the Captain from the beach is standing on the bow of the ship with a toothpick in his mouth.

"Ahh…that was a good meal."

"Captain! Strawhat pirates are dead ahead!" The captain turns his head and looks directly at the ship in front of him. He smiles and places his right hand on his chin and rubs his beard.

"Strawhat, huh? Interesting….You certainly know how to make things interesting Kazu." His face then turns from a grin to a bleek frown with his eyes showing a worried gaze. "He's gonna be pissed at me for this though." The captain turns his attention to his quarters as he gazes at the door to his room. "First things first, I better inform _him_ first." The captain turns his body around and begins walking to his room. "Hey! No one is to bother me or enter my room! I'll be right back!" They all respond a loud 'yes sir'. The captain goes into his room and closes the door and walks over to his desk and pulls out a den den mushi that he has in his pocket. It rings four times and then a voice picks up on the other end.

"Hello? Garp here! Who is this?"

"Hey Garp. It's me. I've got something important to tell you."

"Oh, Lt. Brenan! It's you. Where have you been?"

"That's not important. What is important is that I found him."

"Found who?"

"Monkey D. Luffy." The captain hangs up the line and puts the den den mushi back into his pocket as he steps out of his quarters. When he gets back on the deck, he walks straight to the bow of the ship and gazes forward towards the Strawhat pirates' ship. He takes the toothpick out of his mouth and keeping it in his hand, he places his hands into his pockets. His eyes shift and he releases a haki blast straight at the ship. As the blast passes over the ship, Zoro, Luffy, and Sanji feel the intensity of the haki that is released. Kazu stops dead in his tracks and looks straight at the ship. He turns his body away from Zoro as he slowly sheathes his daggers.

"He always manages to kill my fun." As the ship starts to pull up alongside the Strawhat's ship the captain begins smiling and waving his hands as Kazu crosses his arms and stands still where he's at.

"Hey! Strawhat Luffy! I've been looking for you!"

"What? For me? Who are you?" Kazu unfolds his arms and starts walking over to where the ceiling of the watch tower is.

"Brenan D. Rox. You can call me Rox." Rox turns his gaze from Luffy to Kazu. "That guy over there is my vice captain, Kai Kazu. I apologize for the damage he's done to your ship. He can be a bit aggressive."

"SHUT UP! I'm not aggressive…I'm just angry." Usopp, Nami, and Sanji then look at Kazu questioningly as Usopp waves his hand back and forth.

"Isn't that the same thing?" The captain nods his head agreeing with him.

"Definitely the same thing." Suddenly the captain gets punched in the face by Kazu.

"Screw you! You have no idea how long I've waited to fight Zoro!" Kazu unsheathes his middle sized blade and holds it up to Rox neck. Rox smiles faintly as he uses his hands to push Kazu off of him.

"Now, now Kazu, just relax." Kazu sheathes his sword and starts walking away.

"Whatever!" Kazu then turns his head to Zoro who is standing with his swords sheathed away. "Zoro! We will finish our fight!" Rox watches Kazu walk away slowly towards his room on the ship. When he gets to the room he opens the door and slams it hard behind him. Rox watches him and shakes his head. He folds his arms and turns his gaze to Luffy and his crew.

"So who wants a barbeque?" Sanji and Nami immediately look at Rox with deep intrigue.

"Huh? Your friend comes over here and attacks us, damages the ship and you expect us to trust you enough to feed us? What are you, an idiot?" Nami nods her head in agreement to Sanji's words but they look up to see Luffy, Brook, Chopper and Usopp already dancing with Rox.

"BAR-BE-QUE! BAR-BE-QUE! BAR-BE-QUE!"

"Listen to others when they're speaking Luffy!" Zoro walks over to join the others as he takes a deep heavy sigh.

"Good grief."

"Sanji! I want a barbeque!"

"Shut up idiot! What about the ship?" Rox slides in between Luffy and Sanji to interject into the conversation.

"I'll make the repairs after we eat. Don't worry about it."

"You can repair a ship?"

"Of course! And if you're still uneasy about it, you can have your shipwright supervise the repairs."

"You bet we will." Luffy then raises his arms in the air.

"Enough of that! LET'S BARBEQUE EVERYONE!" Everyone responds with an 'alright' to the idea and begin walking over to Rox's ship. Meanwhile, Kazu is lying on his bed as another person knocks on his door.

"What?"

"Sir, I just wanted you to know that Captain Rox is preparing to start the barbeque."

"Fine. I'll be out later. Where's Lucas?"

"He's still asleep below deck sir."

"Geez! Asleep again? That fool!" Kazu hops off the bed and slowly walks over to the door. After he opens the door, the soldier immediately steps back to give Kazu some room. "You're dismissed! Go back to your post!"

"Yes sir! My apologies!" The officer takes off running as Kazu watches him run off and take a deep sigh.

"Good grief. Got to do everything around here. No good Lucas! Lazy fool!" Kazu starts making his way below deck and as he gets to the bottom of the steps, he walks straight towards the back. When he gets to the back, he immediately sees a guy that is about 5'11" that is medium built with a muscular body, brown skin, and wavy black hair. His eyes are closed and he's induced in a deep sleep in which he snores profusely that echoes off the walls. He is wearing a shirt that only has one sleeve on his left arm and pants with one leg cut to shorts length. Around his wrists and ankles are prison chains that are linked together by a 10" chain. Kazu kicks the bed the man is laying on which stirs him out of his slumber. "Hey! Lucas! Wake up!"

"Hmm….? What time is it?" Before Kazu can utter a response, Lucas already falls back to sleep. Kazu hits him across the back of the head with a closed fist.

"WAKE UP ALREADY! The man you're looking for is on deck." Lucas takes a big yawn and then opens one eye at Kazu.

"What you say….? Franky is here….?"

"Yeah. Didn't you say you were looking for him?" Lucas takes a big yawn and starts stretching his arms out. He slowly sits up and then stands to his feet.

"Take me to him." Lucas yawns again as he starts walking to the deck. Kazu shakes his head and folds his arms across his chest as he starts walking behind him. As the two get to the stairs to go up to the deck they both can hear music playing and people cheering and laughing. Lucas turns his head to look at Kazu. "What's all the noise?"

"I dunno. I heard that Rox was planning to barbeque but…?" Kazu steps in front of Lucas as he slowly approaches the door and after placing his hand on it he slowly pushes it open. The bright light from the sun shines through the door as the two shields their eyes. When their eyes finally adjust to the light they can see Luffy and Chopper dancing on a table as Brook is playing music on his violin. Nami is clapping to the music as Usopp is cheering and singing and Sanji and Rox are cooking on the grill. Robin is at the table sitting while laughing at Luffy as Zoro is sitting on the deck against the rail with a big cup of sake. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!" Rox turns his head to see Kazu and Lucas and waves.

"Hey you two! Come get some of this food! It's AWESOME!" Kazu grits his teeth and slowly grinds them together as he stares at Rox.

"The hell are you doing now Rox?"

"Hey, hey, hey! This ain't my fault! Luffy's crew is doing this! I had absolutely nothing to do with this."

"Really…?" Rox raises his hand in the air and places his other hand on his heart.

"On Davy Jones coffin, I swear!" Just then bright lights are shined on top of the ship as everyone slowly turns their head and sees Franky standing in a striking pose with his arms together above his head.

"I…AM…SUPER FRANKY!" Kazu turns his head to Rox as Rox looks at him in shock.

"Rox…isn't that the bright lights you stole from those rich people to do a concert on the ship?" Rox slowly shifts his eyes away from Kazu as he chuckles to himself.

"Maybe…?" Kazu then starts running towards Rox as Rox waves his hands in front of him.

"Wait, wait, wait! We can talk about this!"

"Die, stupid captain!" Rox then begins running away from Kazu as Kazu starts chasing him around the ship. As the two are running around Luffy cheers for Rox.

"Hey Rox, don't let him catch you!" Rox smiles and then jumps behind Luffy. Rox places his hand on Luffy's shoulder and smiles while looking at Kazu.

"He NEVER catches me. That's why I'm captain!" Rox begins laughing until suddenly Kazu then kicks him in the side of the head. Luffy bursts into a fit of laughs. Meanwhile, Franky has been dancing on top of the ship as Lucas slowly approaches him.

"Franky…it's been a long time." Franky stops dancing to turn his head and sees Lucas. He lifts his shades in shock.

"What are you doing here? Lucas Lionheart!" Lucas smiles and walks over and puts his arm around Franky. "I thought Iceburg locked you up for life?"

"Oh he definitely did. But on the day of the big wave that hit Water 7 I was able to break free. The water flooded the prison and thanks to that I was able to break free through the sewer system. Once I got out I went looking for you but couldn't find anyone in the gang so I just went to the docks and slept until the storm passed. It wasn't until much later when I heard word that you had left and joined Strawhat's crew. So I took a ship and set out looking for you and eventually I came across these guys and decided to join them so I could sleep more."

"You moron. Still as lazy as ever! By the way, I've been thoroughly impressed with this ship. Did you help them build it?"

"No, by the time I came across them the ship had already been made. I did help make some improvements to it though."

"What's this thing called?"

"Didn't you see it earlier? It's written on the sails, Steel Chest."

"I see…interesting name for the ship."

"So what you been doing?"

"That's a long story." As Franky and Lucas continue talking, on the deck, everyone is sitting at the table. Luffy by this point has become huge from eating so much food and is on the floor. Kazu takes a deep sigh.

"Geez you eat a lot Luffy."

"It was delicious!" Sanji nodded his head as he looked over at Rox.

"Those were very interesting flavors. Didn't think you could mix those kinds of spices and sauces together but it's very good Rox." Sanji takes a puff of his cigarette as he looks over at Rox. Rox smiles at Sanji.

"Thanks Sanji." As Sanji places the cigarette back into his mouth, Robin turns her head to look at Rox.

"So how did you become captain Rox?" Robin glances over at Rox with a shallow smile, her eyes gleaming into Rox's as she rests the side of her head in her palm. Rox responds to this delicately, looking into her eyes for an unsaid truth or motive behind her inquisition. Rox closes his eyes reliving the memory of his past and can't help but chuckle silently to himself. Everyone else becoming silent in the moment, Rox turns his body to face everyone around him.

"It's funny you ask that question because I only became captain of this crew by chance." Nami, Sanji, Usopp and Chopper look from one to the other. Kazu slowly gets up from the table and starts making his way over to the grill. He begins taking some meat and rubbing some sauce on it while also seasoning it. Usopp raises his hand to interject.

"What do you mean you became captain by chance?"


	2. Chapter 2

"I mean just that. I left my village, my family, to get stronger. My mom is currently sick and suffering from a disease that requires her to be on constant medication and around the clock surveillance. My brother and I would take care of her while my father would be gone for the most part working on construction to earn wages to pay for the doctor fees and medicine. But our island was attacked by a group of pirates who tried to reign control on the island and steal any profitable goods that would pass through so I trained and became a fighter while also studying medicine as a physician's assistant. Once I had learned all I could from the doctors on our island, I set out to sea to become a stronger fighter and follow my beliefs to help any and all I can with my ability as well as to gain strength to protect my family. One day, while on a certain island, I sneaked onto my crew's ship as a stowaway because I was broke and didn't have any money for food."

~Flashback~

Rox wakes up below deck of a ship as he hears a bell being rung continuously. As he wonders what the sound is, he sniffs the air and can smell a wonderful aroma of spices. His stomach rumbles with an echo as he grabs his stomach in anxiety.

"Man I'm hungry." Rox slowly starts making his way upstairs to the mess hall. Once he arrives in the mess hall, he sees a ton of people coming in and gathering around the table. Rox runs over to the table closest to him and takes a seat and seconds later someone comes around holding a tray with plates of food on it. The guy places the plate in front of Rox but pauses for a second afterwards in his movements.

"I don't think I've seen you before…are you new?" Rox ignores him as he picks up the fork and starts eating. Just then someone sitting next to him gets tapped on the shoulder by the guy holding the trays. "Hey Vice Captain, have you seen this guy before?" The guy sitting next to Rox looks at him intently as he continues to eat. He shakes his head in disagreement.

"Naw, I haven't seen this guy before." Just then Rox turns his head to the vice captain with a mouth full of food and still chewing.

"Could you pass the bread?" The vice captain nods his head and hands him the bowl of bread.

"Sure." The waiter then snatches the bowl of bread from Rox and immediately slams his hands on the table.

"DON'T HAND FOOD TO THIS STRANGER! Besides, I think he's a stowaway." The vice captain's face turns into a surprised look.

"You mean you don't know him either?" The waiter shakes his head as suddenly someone comes up behind Rox. The man stands tall at about 6'8" with no hair and slanted green eyes while picking his nose.

"Hey…who is this sitting in my seat?" Everyone gasps as they stare in shock with fear creeping into the room at what will take place next. Only one word can be said amongst the crew.

"Captain!" Everyone immediately sits up except Rox who reaches for his fourth plate but is stopped by the captain placing his hand on his wrist.

"Get out of my seat stowaway!" Rox turns his head and swallows hard as he stares into the captain's eyes.

"Sure…just let me finish eating!" Rox flicks his wrist to free his hand from the captain's grip and grabs the plate of food in front of him and downs it in one gulp. The crew begins to murmur and whisper amongst each other, all wondering the same question. But the captain voices everyone's thoughts.

"Who are you brat?" Rox finishes chewing his food and swallows as he pats his stomach contently feeling satisfied with the amount of food he's ate.

"My name is…Rox D. Brenan." The captain looks at Rox with a smirk on his face as he grabs him by the collar and throws him into the middle of the room and two people instantly grab him.

"Throw him in the brig! Your name is Brigs Brenan to me." The captain laughs as the other pirates begin taking him down below deck to the brig. The other pirates cheer and celebrate as they watch two of their comrades escort him away. Rox chuckles to himself as he willingly goes with them to not put up any kind of resistance. When the two pirates place him in the brig, they lock it up and stand by the door. A few minutes later, the vice captain and captain come down the hallway and stop in front of the door.

"Brenan…what are you doing on my ship? Have you come for my head?"

"No. It's only by chance I'm on this ship. I simply wanted to get out to sea and your ship just happened to be leaving the docks at the time I was there so I got aboard. I would have been fine staying below deck but I was starving."

"I see…well aren't you the mischievous one. So what were you planning to do had you not get caught?"

"Just sneaked off and moved on to another ship. Where are you guys heading to by the way?" The captain folds his arms and turns around as he starts slowly walking away.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" He then starts laughing and pauses when he gets to the door to the deck. "I don't think you're a bad person but you're definitely not too bright. We don't have time to go out of our way to the closest island to delay our course. You sit tight there until we reach our destination and we'll let you go." Rox nods his head and smiles.

"Fine with me I guess." The captain and vice captain then leave the brig and head up to the deck. Rox then lies back on the floor of the ship and sprawls himself out and falls into a deep sleep.

"_,,..,. 'manoverboard',,,fromcleaning,torescue,tochores,'."_ As Rox speaks he holds a glass in his hand that he is wiping clean with a rag while holding it fondly as if in the reflection of the glass he sees the images of his past. His smile caresses his face gently with the warmest of expressions and feelings that all can't help but feel drawn in, waiting for more to be said and felt. He holds up the glass and looks at it through the moonlight, expecting it for any specs of germs or bacteria. As he holds it up, he turns his gaze directly to Robin.

"_." _Like lightning, Rox expression switches from a smile to anguish and regret as a scowl spreads throughout his face while his eyebrows tighten to a downward point and the hand holding the glass clenches tightly until it breaks the glass snapping everyone to an immediate attention and fixation on the sudden change. Nami and Luffy especially look at Rox with certain trepidation as they try to understand what darkness in Rox past could have spread such a cold embodiment within him. _"'.,'….,,'sship,.However,.AsIstartedeatingmybowloffood,.Ipokedmyheadaroundthecrowd,mybowlstillinhand,' 'vicecaptain'..,.'.,.Itwasn''.,,'."_

"I want you to become the new captain of my crew." The vice captain dropped his head and slumped to the floor as he burrowed his head into his palms to hide the shame of his tears that dripped to the floor but he quickly regained his composure and stepped up to the bedside in front of Rox.

"Captain! This whole thing is my fault! You don't need to make HIM the captain. I'm sorry for being so weak and not being able to protect you but you can't die now! Our journey has only just begun!" Rox nods his head and places his hand on his chest.

"Besides I refuse to accept that level of responsibility! This is your crew and I can heal you! I'm a doctor and you'll get better in no time!" The captain smiled at the foolhardiness of his two most trusted people.

"It be alright you two. Everything will be fixed that is broken and the journey still lives, I just won't be there to see it." Rox grabbed the bandages and began wrapping them around the captain's chest and picking out the metal pieces and dirt and other debris in the wounds to clean it as best as possible. Meanwhile, the vice captain stood silent and still as a tree as he tried his best to maintain a calm feature for his captain that he admired so much but his guilt getting the best of him revealed the tears he wanted to shed from his heart that was broken like his captain. The captain laughed until tears began to run down his cheeks. "Yer truly a depressing bunch. The reason it gonna be okay because Brigs Brenan here be all ye need. He be more than capable to sail the world in search of that treasure that we seek to reach. Take over the helm boy, it's where ye belong." Rox then finishes the bandages and pulls out some leaves and dips them in a sap and layers them over top the bandages.

"I'm not capable to sail the world…and you can get better…I just know it! You have to!" As Rox sprawls himself across the captain, he lowers his head slowly to the captains stomach as he covers himself up with his arms and cries in deep heaves. The captain places his hand on Rox head gently while still smiling and turns his head to a window that shows the blue sky.

"It's not the world we sail for, you know? These people, including me, don't carry the heart like ye to chase freedom of the seas in hopes of riches or glory and fame. We chase for the prize of a once in a lifetime treasure my friend. Though ye be a stowaway amongst us, ye have helped us get this far and I know yer heart. I don't see nothing but a free spirit looking to run away from responsibility because of the fear that lives within ye. But ye are more than what ye believe to be. Ye be the only one amongst us all that carry the will and strength to get us through the new world to the end of the hunt." Rox slowly brings his head up to look at the captain who is still smiling and looking out the window.

"What are you hunting?" The captain turns his head and gives a big grin as Rox and the vice captain look in shock at the genuine happiness that explodes from within the captain.

"The angel fruit…Say ye will lead my people to it. They will be endeavored to ye for all the time left in the world. Say ye will…" The captain moves his hand from Rox head and holds it in mid-air near out in front of Rox as it shakes while he struggles to hold it up. Rox immediately takes his hand into both of his and clasps his hands on the captain's.

"I will. I promise I'll get them to it." The captain nodded his head and pointed to the vice captain who was standing beside Rox with tears streaming down his face.

"Don't blame ye self for this. Ye are strong and none of it be yer fault. What be important now is helping the crew to understand this be me final wish. Let them know that Brigs Brenan be the new captain. Aye sailor?" The vice captain nods his head as the captain smiled happily with a huge grin and passed away.

"_As if the world felt the pain symbolically, a raging storm surfaced and brought down rain harder than I've ever seen before in my entire life. The vice captain and I couldn't move from where we were. We just stayed there in silence as if secretly hoping that it was all a dream and were just waiting for the captain to get back up. But he never did…he was gone…and he would never return to us. The vice captain fell to the floor of the room and wept. He screamed and heaved deep breaths so hard that each heave left bruises on his chest. I could only reflect. Reflect on the past of when I first arrived on the ship and how everyone was willing to be open and friendly with me even though I was a stowaway. I didn't see myself as a follower of their beliefs or much less saw my path within the same realm of these guys. I only respected them and kept to myself and yet their captain sees me as someone who would willingly entrust HIS people's LIVES with me! And yet I couldn't even save his… When the vice captain had shed enough tears, he walked over to the captain's bar and grabbed a small jar of sake and poured it in two glasses. We both drank sake until we were drunk and passed out. In the morning, we took the biggest jar of sake that the captain usually kept for himself and took it out to the crew and gave it to them after we broke the news to them. We all drank until we couldn't anymore and used the last bit to pour on our captain before we burned his body at sea." _

~End of Flashback~

Franky suddenly bursts through the door with Lucas in tears crying as Chopper and Luffy join him. Usopp wipes his face as Nami and Robin stare at Rox. Zoro is still sitting on the floor while Kazu is handing a plate of food to Zoro. Zoro bows his head and begins eating the food. Franky runs up to Rox and grabs his collar.

"What a story! I heard the whole thing outside. I didn't want to barge in and interrupt. But I'm not gonna cry, even though it was so touching!" Rox stares at Franky with a blank stare as he thinks to himself, _"Buthe'scryingrightnow…"_ Luffy then hugs Franky and nods his head in agreement.

"Yeah Franky! It really was a touching story!" Robin then raises her hand to interject.

"Excuse me captain, but I have a question. What exactly is the angel fruit that the former captain wanted?" Everyone's attention turned towards Rox as he was sipping his tea. He slowly places the cup of tea down on the table and looks straight at Robin.

"The vice captain explained to me that their crew actually weren't pirates. They were a bunch of treasure hunters. They would take on the greatest treasures exempting One Piece itself in the world and try to find them and map the history behind it. The crew was made up of normal citizens and average people. Only the vice captain and captain actually knew how to fight on the ocean. The rest were just normal people like historians, blacksmiths, and fishermen. It just so happened, by chance, that on the same island they departed from where I became their stowaway is where they gained a map that would lead them to the New World where the island supposedly exists that has the angel fruit. The angel fruit itself is the greatest treasure in the world today second only to One Piece. It is known basically for being the anti-devil fruit. As everyone knows, when one person eats a devil fruit, the person who eats it gains an unknown power and ends up being cursed with not being able to swim. Well the angel fruit is basically the cure for the curse of the devil fruit. Whoever eats it that is cursed will lose their power and become a regular human again that is able to swim again as well. But if someone who eats it that isn't cursed with a devil fruit eats it loses their body and becomes a ghost that is stuck to wander the world for all eternity." Usopp takes a deep gulp as everyone stares in shock at what Rox said. Zoro finishes taking the last bite of his food and puts his fork down as he picks up his cup of water and gulps it down to wash the food away. Nami takes this time to interject a question.

"So you mean to tell me if Luffy was to eat that fruit he would no longer be a rubber man?"

"That's correct. But most people with devil fruit powers don't wish to seek out an angel fruit to be cured from their newfound power and even less believes in such a tale or of that possibility. But the captain was willing to die for his belief in its existence so I do as well." Usopp then interjects a question.

"So why is this fruit so hard to find? I mean, the devil fruit are rare but overall they've been spread out all over the grand line. Wouldn't the angel fruit be the same?"

"If only God wasn't so cruel. Supposedly the angel fruit only appears once every hundred years on a tree that blossoms under certain conditions in the air as far as temperature, moisture, humidity, and air pressure. But if found, the fruit is so rare that it can be sold for whatever price you name." Nami's eyes become dollar signs at the mere thought of holding an angel fruit in her hand as Usopp looks at her with fear.

"HEY! NAMI IS THINKING ABOUT GOING AFTER THAT FRUIT!" Chopper immediately jumps on to Nami and begins shaking her.

"Nami! Hey Nami! Come back to us! Please come back!" Rox stares at Nami in utter confusion as he thinks to himself. _"Whatisupwiththischick?"_ Just then Zoro slams his cup on the floor as everyone turns their attention to him.

"Well all that stuff aside, what I find hilarious is this guy being such a crybaby." Zoro points at Kazu as everyone then remembers the story and starts laughing. Kazu looks at Zoro in shock as anger immediately begins to spread throughout his face. "I thought you were going to be the strongest swordsman? And yet you're crying over a guy you failed to protect? That's pathetic." Suddenly Zoro has the words 'moron' written across his forehead in big black ink. Usopp then laughs at Zoro along with Chopper, Luffy, Brook and Sanji. "What's so funny?" Usopp gets a mirror and shows the mark on his forehead as Sanji interjects a comment.

"How did you get that on your forehead idiot Marimo?" Zoro then stands up and gets in Sanji's face.

"You say something lover cook?" Sanji then gets back into Zoro's face as Kazu walks past them both flipping a marker into the air and catching it in his hand repeatedly while he walks past them.

"You idiot! As if I would cry over some weak captain that died unable to protect himself!" Just then Zoro turns his head to see Kazu with the marker as he grits his teeth in anger. "Besides, I was NEVER a vice captain." Kazu sits back down in the chair he was sitting in before and props his feet up on the table and places his hands behind his head. "I was captain of the Ironclad pirates before I joined Rox." Everyone stares in shock at Kazu as Luffy turns his head and smiles.

"That's amazing! You used to be a captain? No wonder you're so strong!" Luffy chuckles as Zoro wipes his head to get the mark off his forehead.

"So what happened to your crew? They die?"

"Unlike you Zoro, I can lead my crew anywhere and not get lost." Zoro scoffed at Kazu at the statement as he sits back down on the floor to allow Kazu to talk.

"So, why would you, a captain, join Rox crew?"

~Flashback~

_"'."_ A little black kid wearing gray shorts and a black hoodie with blue sleeves that are torn off at the elbows and black boots is walking through the streets as people walk around him going about their business. As he turns into an alleyway, he sees a group of kids sitting on a dumpster. One is taller than the rest and is wearing shades with a tank top shirt and green sweat pants with black and green stripped sneakers. As they get off the dumpster, the two others behind the tall one are mixed with a caramel skin. One is a girl with long curly hair that goes past her shoulders and she has on a shirt with the words 'future star' on the front and jeans with blue sneakers. The other is a guy with hair tied in a ponytail and his eyes are green. He's wearing a blue shirt and black sweat pants with black shoes. The tall one approaches the kid standing at the entrance to the alley.

"Hey, is that you Kazu?" The boy lifts up his shades as the kid nods his head and lifts his hands up to the hood and pulls it down to reveal his face.

"Been a long time Jurai. Who are they?" Kazu points to the two kids behind the tall guy and he looks back at them to see the girl get behind the boy and the boy look with a serious face at Kazu. Jurai waves his hand and walks up to Kazu.

"Don't mind them. The girl is Tsurei and the guy is her brother Jackson." At that moment Jurai wraps his arm around Kazu's shoulder and holds him close. As he does this, he puts the shades back over his eyes as Kazu looks at him.

"Alright, I'll ignore them then. So what's the plan?" Jurai's facial expression shifts from a grin at Kazu to a serious look. At that moment they hear gunshots fired not that far away. The sound makes Tsurei jump and the rest begin looking around. Jurai immediately gets off Kazu's shoulder and then heads out to the main street and peeks around the corner. Kazu and Jackson come up behind him and look too as Tsurei stands behind her brother holding his hand. As they look out into the street, they see a crowd of people standing on the sidewalk and in the middle of the road are four people holding up a caravan. The curtain that covers the inside of the caravan is cracked open and inside they see a person wearing a white suit with a glass bowl covering their head. In the person's hand is a gun still smoking and the direction it's aimed at is a body on the sidewalk where the only thing that can be seen is the person's feet. Jurai turns to the others.

"Come on, let's get closer." Kazu and Jackson both nod their head and they all start moving on the sidewalk and get a little closer but stay a few feet away from the area of the caravan to stay out of sight from the crowd of people and the person with the gun. The person in the caravan puts the gun away and turns their attention to a person wearing a black suit on the street.

"Get me that person's daughter. Make sure she is cleaned up and given a proper training in maid duties as well. She will be perfect for my collection." A woman wearing a white dress with blood all over the hem of her skirt covers her mouth as tears flow down her face and over her hand. She collapses to the ground and turns her head to a little girl wearing a blue dress that has short hair, tiny glass earrings and a pretty face. The little girl is crying in tears as she shakes the body on the ground. I knew it was dead. It was no longer a need to identify the gender or that it was once alive. His eyes still hold an expression of shock and bewilderment. I could only guess what the last words he heard would be. My attention went back to the man on the caravan as he smiled with a huge grin as the man in the black suit picked up the girl who by now was kicking and screaming to get free. She was punching the man's face as hard as she could but when the man didn't even flinch, she turned her head to the corpse on the ground.

"DADDY!" The woman in the white dress stretched her hand out as she cried hard, clutching her chest with her other hand as she heaved for breaths, mouthing words that she lacked the air to speak. I glanced at the others around them and everyone's face was downcast and looking away as if trying to not be a witness so if asked what they saw, they could honestly say 'nothing'. I turned to look at Jurai and the others. Jackson was holding Tsurei in his arms as she was crying with her hands over her ears as if to block out the moment so it would never become another nightmare or memory that could haunt her both in her sleep and when she wakes up tomorrow. Jurai was keeping his eyes on the situation but his hands had balled into fists that were clenched so tight he broke the skin of the palms of his hands which leaked droplets of blood. I touched Jurai's shoulder and he flinched as he looked at me. Immediately he felt the tension and the pain in his hands and he looked at them to see the deep scratches and broken skin and stuffed them into his pockets as he went back to looking at the girl being carried off as the mother just cried. As people started to leave and walk away, the mother just stayed there, crying and looking at the corpse which used to be her living breathing husband and father of her child. At that moment Jurai turned around to us and ushered us back in the alley.

"Let's get out of here for now." I looked at Jurai and immediately looked at him in shock.

"I thought we were going to steal some food from the celestial dragon's mansion?" Jurai looked at me with the most serious expression.

"No, with him doing what he just did, he's gonna be at the mansion all day to enjoy his new pet and if we break in, we don't need him calling an Admiral to come after us for revenge. Too many risks for that, but don't worry. I got a stash of berries in the outskirts. We can munch on those." As we moved away from the street and started heading out of the town, Tsurei was still shedding tears but her sobbing was dying like a fire with no air. Jackson just continued to hold her hand and comfort her as Jurai and I just looked onwards, putting the whole thing behind us. We walked in silence. No one spoke a word. I couldn't speak for others but for me, it was just another day. By the time we got outside the city, Jurai led us out to a huge field and in a bag hidden within a tree trunk that was hollowed out, was the berries. He opened the bag up and took a handful and passed the bag around. We all grabbed a handful and then put the bag back into the tree trunk. As we sat under the tree and began eating the berries, Jurai turned his head to me. "Hey Kazu? Didn't what you just saw bother you?" I honestly had to think about it for a minute. Everyone's attention on me, waiting, simply waiting for my response and wondering I guess in the back of their minds if I was some psychotic freak who didn't mind treating people as dolls or something.

"The earliest memory I can ever recall is when I was a kid, maybe four or five or a little younger. My mom took me to the ice cream shop for a treat after I came home with a good grade from school. We get to the shop and I'm looking at all the different flavors they have and right when I look at my mom and tell her I want vanilla, in walked in a celestial dragon. He was talking to one of his bodyguards. He was saying something about hearing the shop sold the best ice cream around. The shop owner asks him what he would like to have and the man looks around and says he wants the whole store. That he wants to make the owner a servant of his house to only make ice cream for him personally. The owner stands up to the celestial dragon and tells him that he has a family to take care of. At this point my mom was holding me in her arms and moving us away from the celestial dragon. She inched closer to the back of the store against the wall slowly as she exhaled each breath. Her heart was beating so fast that I felt it against my chest. The owner continued to debate with the celestial dragon but at some point his family came in the room and upon entering he immediately made the bodyguard kill them. I was in so much shock of not just the act but the sight of so much blood. Some of it even managed to splatter on me. My mother shielded me from the sight of the dead bodies but I peeked over her shoulder, wondering if they would ever move. My eyes focused on their eyes, their hands, searching for any inch of movement. But they never did. They just lied there on the cold floor breathlessly still. I started to open my mouth to say something but my mother immediately placed her hand over my mouth. These weren't strangers to us. The boy was my classmate and we often played together at school. The woman would occasionally come by the house to talk to my mom when dad wasn't around. We loved them and yet now they were gone. When the celestial dragon left, I screamed at my mom begging to know why she didn't do anything to stop them. But she told me, some things are beyond our reach to prevent and we can only be a silent witness and an aid to those left behind. From that day forward, I understood that the celestial dragons owned the world, and everything in it was as free to take as the berries in our hands. So of course it bothered me. But what can we do? The celestial dragons own the world with the Admirals as their police dogs. Not even Gol D. Roger could stop them." Jurai pops some more berries into his mouth as Jackson and Tsurei look from one to the other. Jurai then stands up.

"I know someone who can stop them. I've heard stories about a guy that supposedly is taking on the world. Not just the marines and world government but also the celestial dragons. Everyone says he's the strongest guy out there."

"Sounds like a crazy idiot to me." Jackson turns his attention to Jurai.

"Would he be able to help me protect my sister?" I turn and look at Jackson as Jurai does the same.

"I believe so. I'm gonna look for him one day. One day I'm gonna set sail and go searching for him. Would you come with me?"

"Do you even know this guy's name?"

"No."

"Naw man, I'll manage."

"I'm gonna do it Kazu. I'm gonna change the world man. One day, the celestial dragons won't be able to do as they please anymore."

_"Ididn',.,,everyday,.Thosewhocouldn'''.,.,.,.."_ Franky then shifts his weight while he's leaning against the wall and asks a question.

"So how did you actually run into Rox?" Kazu shakes his head as he closes his eyes, recalling the event step by step.

_",Iranintohimbychanceaswell."_ Rox turns around and wraps his arm around Kazu.

"That's right! I was just lucky, that's all!" Rox holds up two fingers in front of everyone as Kazu balls up his fist and hits Rox in the back of the head.

"Shut up! And don't interrupt me!" Kazu clears his throat as he folds his arms and continues on. _"AsIwassaying,.."_ Kazu and three men are walking down a street. One of the men has a black jacket with a jolly roger on the back of it and black pants. The second is wearing a long sleeve white shirt with a white bandana blue shades and blue jeans. The last one is wearing a kimono and wooden sandals with two guns tucked at the sides in the sash. As they walk up to the bar, Kazu places his hands out in front of the three guys behind him.

"You three wait out here. I'm just getting information and then we're off this stupid island. Zax, you and Kilbe can head back to the ship. Otaru, wait out here for me." The man in the kimono and the man in the blue jeans nod their heads and starts walking away. The third man pats Kazu on the back and stands by the door. Kazu slowly makes his way inside the bar and as he walks in people begin to stare at him. As they stare, he walks confidently stepping in full stride with no hesitation to a stool near the far end of the bar. While everyone is staring, Kazu notices a man sitting in the corner of the room with his head lying against the wall asleep. He snores loudly as two people are sitting with him eating. Kazu shakes his head while thinking to himself, 'nobody important'. Kazu sits down on the stool and as the bartender walks over to him, he slams two pieces of gold coins on the table and slides them over to the bartender.

"What'll be?" Kazu pulls out a wanted poster and places it on the table.

"Information. You seen this guy?" The bartender looks at the poster and shakes his head.

"Sorry. Haven't seen him." Kazu bangs his fist on the table and points to a bottle on the top shelf as he reaches into his pocket.

"Then I'll have one of those." Kazu pulls a gold coin out of his pocket and hands it over to the bartender as he reaches over and takes the coin.

"A fine choice." He takes the other hand and grabs the bottle and hands it to Kazu. Kazu pulls out a pocket knife and then cuts the top of the bottle open and starts drinking. As he drinks, someone comes up beside him and then looks over his shoulder at the poster.

"Huh? Roronoa Zoro? You're after this guy? This guy beat the assassin Dez Bones! You really think you can defeat him?" The guy starts laughing as people start laughing with him. As everyone laughs, the guy in the corner opens his eyes and sees Kazu reach around his back and place his hand on a dagger. As his grip on the handle tightens, the guy sleeping in the back purposely falls to the ground and pulls the table down with him to cause a scene. Everyone turns to look at the guy and then start laughing even harder when they realize what happened. Kazu turns his head at the noise and takes his hand off the dagger as he goes back to drinking his bottle. He glances at the guy who is standing behind him. He's tall with wavy hair and a thick messy moustache in a thick yellow coat with black buttons and black pants. As Kazu turns his head back to the bar he starts lifting his bottle but before he can put it to his lips, the guy behind him slaps him on the back. Kazu turns his head to him as he grits his teeth and grips the bottle tight. The guy then lowers his head and places his lips close to Kazu's ear. "You're nothing but a third rate pirate at best. I bet you couldn't even collect a 10 million bounty let alone 120 million." The guy bends back and begins laughing heartily and deep as people laugh with him. Kazu smirks as he takes the bottle and finishes the rest of it in one gulp. He turns around to face the guy as the guy takes a couple steps back.

"And who are you?"

"You're looking at the one and only Captain Louis Alejandro worth 80 million. And if you know what's good for you, you'll stay in that chair and fork over your gold coins that you have left in your pocket." Kazu smiles as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a handful of gold coins and drops them on the floor in front of him. Everyone grows silent at all the gold coins that fall to the floor.

"That's over ninety million in gold coins…Captain! If you can manage to walk through that door with them alive then they're yours." The guy laughs and goes to one knee to pick up the gold coins. As he starts putting them in his hands, Kazu reaches around his back for the dagger and draws it quickly. In the same motion he leans forward and swings the blade aiming for the Captain's neck but the Captain gets kicked by the guy who fell out of the chair earlier and the gold coins go flying into the air above him. The guy who kicked the captain catches the coins and hands them to Kazu. Kazu puts them back into his pocket and then thrusts the dagger up to his neck. The guy holds his hands up immediately.

"Your welcome! Sheesh! Can I get a little appreciation?" Kazu puts the dagger back into the sheath behind his back and picks up the rest of his gold coins before he starts walking away.

"Stay away from me." The guy follows behind him.

"Come on! Relax. Don't be so bent out of shape. Want to talk about it?" Kazu keeps walking and as he gets to the door, the guy places his hand on Kazu's shoulder. Kazu immediately grabs the dagger and swings it at the guy's neck. The guy steps back and then sees Kazu pulling out his sword on his back. He puts the dagger back in its sheath and begins pursuing him with his sword. "Hey, hey, hey, hey! Can't we talk about this?"

"Just die!" Kazu swings his sword and the force of the swing comes straight at the guy. The guy yells as he drops to the ground and dodges it. He covers his head and then rolls as Kazu continues swinging at him. The guy gets up off the floor and runs out of the bar and sprints down the street. As Kazu comes out, Otaru turns to look at him.

"Captain? Everything okay?" Kazu turns to look at him and shakes his head.

"Get back to the ship. I got a pirate to kill." Otaru nods his head and then takes off in the other direction as Kazu continues his chase on the guy from the bar. As the two run through the town, the guy turns and starts heading to the coast, continually avoiding the swings from Kazu. When they arrive at the coast, the guy stops and Kazu stops chasing him. Kazu takes his sword and holds it lightly with the dull side on his shoulder.

"Ready to die?" The guy smiles as he folds his arms over his chest and stares at Kazu. "What's your name?"

"Rox D. Brenan." Kazu takes his sword and brings it down to his waist and dashes in towards Rox but Rox releases a burst of haki and as it passes by Kazu he stops in mid-swing. Kazu takes a step back and looks directly at Rox who just smiles.

"You're strong…real strong." Rox just grins with a huge smile on his face as Kazu slowly puts the sword away and back into the sheath. "You searching for One Piece?"

"No. I'm not interested in that."

"Then what are you after?"

"I'm kind of like you. Even though you're more of a bounty hunter, I don't collect the money. I just fight strong guys." Kazu chuckles at the comment as he folds his arms.

"Do you think Monkey D. Luffy is strong? Everything about him is rumors. No real facts but that's because he hasn't said anything himself that anyone can really quote him on so he isn't boastful but definitely an idiot."

"All of that is irrelevant to me. I'm gonna destroy him when I meet him."

"You're looking to fight Luffy?"

"Yeah." Kazu places his right hand on his chin. He glances at Rox as he thinks about joining him but the mere thought of it makes him sick. His face changes with the image of bad thoughts going through his head and he shakes his head. Rox notices the expressions changing on Kazu's face. "You okay?" Kazu ignores the question and looks at Rox with a straight face.

"Rox, let me and my men join your crew. I know you will cross paths with Luffy and when you do, I want to be there to face Zoro. I have to know how good he really is." Rox starts walking away from Kazu as Kazu looks at him. "You gonna give me an answer?" Rox continues walking.

"If you want to come then come on already. Now where did I leave my compass?" Kazu frowns at the fact of hearing he lost the compass.

"What do you mean you lost the compass?"

"I didn't say I lost it."

"You don't know where it is either!"

"I do know! It's somewhere on this island…I think….probably….maybe…?" Kazu then hits him on the head with the side of his hand.

"Hey!" Kazu repeatedly hits him in the head as the two walk away from the shore of the island and back towards the city they came from.

~End of Flashback~

Kazu quickly draws his sword on his back and points the tip at Zoro as Zoro looks straight up the sword from the edge of his cup. Usopp, Chopper, and Sanji look at Kazu as Luffy's face doesn't change. Brook continues sipping tea with Robin as Nami stands up but Luffy grabs her wrist. As Nami turns her attention to Luffy she looks into his eyes and sits back down.

"For so long I've waited Zoro…so long I've waited for a fight that would actually push me to my limits. Once I crush you, I'll go after Vista from Whitebeard's crew."

"That's if you manage to still be breathing afterwards." Zoro finishes his cup of sake and throws the cup at Kazu. As the cup sails through the air towards Kazu's head, Kazu moves his head to the left to dodge the cup but while Kazu's eyes are on the cup, Zoro has stood up and drawn two of his swords and has them pointed at Kazu. When Kazu's eyes turn back to Zoro, he smirks and side steps out the way of the two swords that Zoro are aiming at his chest. Kazu blocks both of the swords with his sword and as the steel clashes together in between them everyone stares in shock at the fast movement that was done in the blink of an eye. As Usopp, Chopper, Brook, Nami, Franky and Robin stare in shock, Luffy just grins as Rox starts walking up to the two of them.

"That's enough you two! Kazu, you should go somewhere and cool off. You're way too tense." Kazu and Zoro both have huge grins on their face as their eyes stare deep into each other's as if their minds have already checked out and left. They both step back and sheath their swords.

"I'm gonna enjoy tearing you apart." Kazu says as he turns his back to Zoro.

"Heh. Keep talking. It'll be that much more pleasant when I silence you permanently." Kazu and Zoro begin walking in different directions as they both exit the room. Usopp, Chopper, and Nami exhale once they have left the room. Luffy laughs to himself out loud.

"Hey, Rox! Those two sure are interesting don't you think?" Rox smiles to himself as he crosses his arms and gazes at Luffy with a serious look.

"Luffy…you full of food?" Luffy smiles with a wide huge grin.

"Yeah. Thanks a lot for the food. It was really good!" Rox smirks and places his left hand over his right fist and begins cracking his knuckles. As Luffy watches this his smile dissipates slowly.

"You've made quite the name for yourself these past couple of months. Now I don't care about One Piece and am not interested in being the Pirate King. All I want to do is fight the strongest people out there and you're top on my list. Tomorrow morning, we're gonna fight. We'll dock on an island and fight there to avoid damaging our ships. Get some sleep…." Rox walks slowly past Luffy and pats his shoulder as he walks past him. Luffy's expression changes to a serious one as he stares straight ahead. "….you'll need it." As Rox walks away, Luffy's hands slowly curl into fists.

"Hey, why do you wanna fight? Are we enemies now?" Rox opens the door that Kazu left from and walks out and closes the door behind him leaving Luffy alone to his thoughts. As Luffy stays where he is, Robin gets up from the table. She begins walking towards the door. Sanji turns to look at her.


	3. Chapter 3

"Robin, where you going?" She turns her head to look at Sanji.

"I have a few more questions for Capt. Rox." She opens the door and walks through to follow after Rox. Franky and Lucas get up to leave the room too. Nami looks at her captain, her friend as Luffy takes his straw-hat and brings it down to cover his eyes more. Nami gets up and turns to leave, not knowing what to say to her friend or whether he wants to be alone or needs consoling. As she gets up, she turns to look at Usopp, Chopper, Brook and Sanji. The four of them get up and follow Nami out of the room to leave their captain by himself to his own thoughts of what just happened. At the back of the ship, Robin slowly approaches Rox who is looking out at the sea, seeing nothing but still calm water. Rox's eyes turn to the sound of Robin's footsteps and then he turns his head to see Robin walking up behind him. He goes back to looking at the water as he keeps his back to Robin.

"To what do I owe this lovely pleasure Nico Robin?" Robin pulls her hair back behind her right ear as the wind gently blows. She smiles at Rox and leans against the railing of the ship.

"I've seen you before." Rox turns his body around to look at Robin and walks up to her slowly. He bends down to get at eye level with her and he places his right hand on his chin and rubs it slowly as he grins.

"I know I've seen you." Robin pulls her head back just to create some space. She looks at him questioningly as she looks into his eyes.

"Where have you seen me before?"

"At a beach with a fire lit sunset burning in the background where you stood by yourself holding a cup as I poured you the finest tea on our date. And I was captured by your beauty, staring into your eyes of chestnut and coals that burned my chest and set my heart aflame!" Rox spreads his arms out over his head. "PASSION! LOVE!" As he slowly brings his arms down to his side, he grins with a sly smirk. "And desire…" In a flash of a movement he disappears and stands in front of Robin and as she puts her arms out in front of her, Rox envelops her in an intimate hold. Robin stares up at Rox as he leans his head down centimeters from her face.

"Yes Nico Robin. I've met you somewhere before. But I'm afraid that is something that can't be shared at this moment in time. However, I can share with you my inner most desire to express my passion for you. I would love it if you joined me and came with me."

"Man, that bastard Zoro. Probably got lost somewhere on this ship wandering around looking for our own ship to return to. Zoro! Are you back….here….?" At that moment, Sanji turned the corner and sees Rox embracing Robin as Rox turns his eyes to look at Sanji. He smiles with a huge grin and chuckles.

"This shamelessly isn't what it looks like." Sanji drops the cigarette from his mouth as he combusts into flames from the pure anger. He goes into a fever pitched scream and dashes toward Rox. Rox smiles and turns his head to Robin and says something softly in her ear, causing her facial expression to change drastically from uneasy to shock. Rox then kisses her gently on the cheek. He slowly pulls away from her as she places her hand gently on her cheek and as he lets her go Sanji spins across the floor of the deck to set his leg on fire.

"Diable…jamble!" Sanji then thrusts his leg on fire towards Rox neck but Rox blocks the kick with his hand at the last second. In that moment, Sanji looks at him in total shock that his best move was stopped in the blink of an eye. "What?" Rox quickly side steps and while still holding Sanji's foot, takes his left hand and grips Sanji's face to slam him down to the floor of the ship.

"You're ruining my fun Sanji. Just a joke. You should learn to lighten up more." Rox breaks out into laughter as he slowly takes his hands off Sanji and walks away leaving him on the floor bleeding from his head and nose. Robin looks with caution at Rox while he walks away towards the front of the ship. Meanwhile, at the front of the ship, Kazu sits on the railing with his feet touching the floor of the ship. He watches Zoro leave to go back to the Thousand Sunny and then minutes later sees Usopp, Chopper and Brook follow behind him. Sanji goes around towards the back of the ship as Nami sees Kazu and begins walking up to him.

"What do you want?"

"I want to know something! Why does your captain want to fight Luffy?" Nami looks at Kazu with a serious face as Kazu looks away from her and crosses his arms.

"How should I know? Ever since I joined this crew, my only focus has been preparing for the day I'd meet Zoro. I don't know why Rox wants to fight him so badly much less even care. But if I had to assume it's because he respects him." Nami looks at him even more confused.

"Huh? He respects him? What kind of reason is that?" Kazu hops off the railing of the ship he's sitting on and leans against it.

"I can't describe it in words. It's like coming across someone you see as a rival. Someone that could push you to your limit and make you better each time you challenge one another. And because you understand that you make each other better, you respect the rival's ability and want to bring out more and more each time. I used to have a rival, a long time ago." Nami inches closer to Kazu

"What about Zoro? Isn't he a rival?" Kazu's face abruptly shifts to a look of aggravated aggression.

"Zoro is not even WORTHY to be called anything but SCUM! I don't see him as my equal in anything. Not as a pirate and ESPECIALLY NOT A SWORDSMAN! I'll cut him down at dawn." Kazu looks at Nami as she looks with a face of defiance to his declaration.

"You won't win. No one has ever beaten Zoro." Kazu reaches behind him and slowly pulls out the sword on his back.

"I'm not 'no one'." Kazu then swings his sword at the water and the water springs upwards and creates a wave that kicks back towards the ship. As it tunnels towards the ship Nami stares in shock as she looks at the height and speed of the wave and starts running away but looks back to see Kazu standing firm and unwavering from the wave. As the wave comes towards the ship and gets ready to swallow it whole to overturn it Kazu takes the sword and places it parallel to the ship on his right side as if he was sheathing the sword. At the last second before the water touches Kazu, he swings his sword across his body and splits the water in half horizontally. The wave stops abruptly and falls back into the sea. Kazu slowly puts the sword back into the sheath on his back as Nami stares in shock at what he did. As Kazu stands utterly still looking at the water, Nami can only stare with her hand over her mouth. Suddenly a hand touches her shoulder which makes her jump with a high pitched scream.

"Whoa! Sorry if I startled you." She looks up to see Rox with a smile on his face. "Are you okay Nami?" She takes a deep breath and regains her composure. She nods her head to acknowledge her condition. Rox pats her on the back and then begins walking over to Kazu. Nami watches him leave from around her and starts heading over to the Thousand Sunny as Luffy comes out of the room and follows her back to the ship. Rox approaches Kazu and stops behind him.

"What is it captain?"

"I felt the ship rock and noticed the water. You okay?"

"Fine. I'm just anxious. Dawn can't come fast enough." Rox nods his head as he folds his arms across his chest.

"Believe me, I know what you mean. I can't wait to fight Luffy. Just knowing that tomorrow morning I'm gonna be face to face with the world's number one rookie pirate captain who's defeated two of the seven warlords…" Rox throws a punch to his right and the water kicks up sprouting even higher than when Kazu swung at the water. The water however doesn't turn into a tall wave but just falls back into the sea.

"They have no idea what awaits them tomorrow at the crack of dawn!" Rox shakes his head and chuckles at Kazu.

"You're right….they don't." Meanwhile, over on the Thousand Sunny ship, the entire crew is sitting in their kitchen except for Zoro who is up in the lookout tower asleep. Sanji takes the lighter in his pocket and lights the cigarette in his mouth. After it's lit he takes a deep breath to inhale on the cigarette. As he places the lighter back into his pocket, he takes the cigarette out of his mouth and then exhales the smoke out of his mouth.

"So Luffy, we pretty much know that that Marimo bastard is gonna fight that Kazu guy. Are you going to fight Rox?"

"Of course. I'm not gonna run from a challenge. I just don't understand why he wants to fight us. He's not a bad person and I thought we were becoming friends. But none of that matters because if he wants to fight me, I'll beat him up!" Nami stands up grabbing everyone's attention.

"I'm highly against this! We should leave right now." Robin slowly stands up beside Nami.

"I agree with Nami. We should leave. Those two are dangerous." Usopp bangs on the table.

"Well I think they're nothing but cowards! They challenged Luffy and Zoro but they didn't want anything to do with us, especially someone as amazing as CAPTAIN USOPP!" Sanji lays his foot on top of Usopp's head to make him be quiet.

"Be quiet and let the ladies finish!" Nami steps forward.

"Luffy, I can't speak for Rox but Zoro's opponent isn't just some swordsman. The move I saw him do when we were on the ship wasn't him just simply cutting the water. He somehow created a current in the water to force the water to make a wave and then he used the motion of his sword to make the air split the water. He's not just some regular guy Luffy!" Robin interjected.

"She's right! When I was with Rox on the ship to talk to him, he told me how he knows me. How he knows everything about me and everyone on this ship. And the only way he could know that is by being incredible strong! We should leave before the morning comes Luffy and never look back." Everyone turns to look at Luffy.

"Sorry guys…it may be selfish of me to say this but I want to stay. I want to know why Rox wants to fight me. And I don't want to run away from him and be known as a coward. There shouldn't be anything to worry about. He's not a bad guy and he isn't even interested in you guys, just Zoro and me. As long as you two stay away from it and don't interfere, there'll be nothing to worry about." Nami sighs as Robin sits down slowly back into her chair while Sanji exhales another puff of smoke. He looks up at the ceiling of the room as the smoke rises up and slowly dissipates.

"For better or worse, the decision has been made. In the morning, we prepare to fight against Captain Rox and his crew." The crew all come to an agreement at the captain's decision as they wonder what will the outcome be from the captain's decision. As the night continues, tension builds among both sides of the crew as the moon declines from its full bright view. Throughout the night, Rox and his crew help fix the damages done on the Thousand Sunny. As the sun peeks out over the sea's horizon illuminating the water and gleaming beams of light across the sky. It's color painting across the eternal blue bringing with it a breeze that blows steadily with exuberating force. The two ships Thousand Sunny and Steel Chest cast their sails and begin making their way out riding beside each other as if racing to their destination. Standing at the bow, Luffy and Zoro stare across at Kazu and Rox. The rest of both crews are standing outside on the ship directing the ships towards an island that they can see in the distance. Lucas screams across the ship.

"Island dead ahead Captain!" Rox keeps his focus on Luffy as he doesn't look away for a second.

"Make way steadfast! We are docking there!" The men cheer as they start turning the ship towards the island. Usopp runs up to Luffy.

"Luffy! Are we going to follow them?"

"Of course! Nami! LET'S GO!" Nami nods her head and begins directing Chopper and Sanji to steer the ship. As the two crews work on steering their ships, they continue to move until they arrive at the island and dock the ships. After they finish docking, Kazu and Rox jump down off the ship and drop down on the shore of the island. Luffy and Zoro walk off the ship as the rest of Luffy's crew walks behind them. Rox faces Luffy as Zoro walks around behind Luffy and walks towards Kazu. The four people face off as the rest of both crews stand to the side near the forest of the island. The tension between the four people is extremely thick. Luffy cuts through it with his voice as he looks up from his straw hat.

"Just tell me Rox, why do you want to fight me? Are we enemies?" Rox smiles as he folds his arms.

"It's nothing personal Luffy. I don't want to kill you or prevent you from achieving One Piece or the next Pirate King. I want to know how strong you really are. In a way, I want to test you to see if you truly have what it takes to become the Pirate King. You're fearless, confident, caring, and have accomplished a lot in such a short time on the Grand Line. I just want to fight you. So, do you accept my challenge?" Luffy takes his hat and stretches his hand out to Usopp. Usopp takes the hat and Luffy turns his head back to Rox as he brings his hand back to the side of his body. He cracks his knuckles as he smiles to himself and gets into a fighting stance.

"Yeah...I accept." Rox grins as he bends his knees and unfolds his arms over his chest. Just then a huge explosion is heard over the island as everyone turns their attention to where it came from. They look over the trees and can see smoke rising in the distance. Rox looks over at Lucas as he motions his head towards the explosion.

"Go check it out Lucas. We'll be right behind you." Lucas salutes and then runs ahead. Rox turns to look at Kazu who shakes his head.

"NO!" Rox looks at him in earnest desperation.

"Kazu…come on."

"NO!" Kazu takes a deep breath through his nose as he looks at Zoro who has his arms crossed with his bandana still tied to his arm. As he looks back to Rox, his facial expression shifts to one of seriousness.

"You know we have to investigate it. Come on!" Kazu screams in anger and frustration as he drops to his knees. He turns his attention to Zoro.

"You better not go anywhere!" Zoro turns to look at Luffy who has already started running towards the explosion.

"LUFFY!" The rest of Luffy's crew begins to turn and notice that he's already run off and somehow had grabbed his hat from Usopp. Zoro takes off after Luffy as the rest of the crew chases after him. Kazu gets to his feet and walks slowly after everyone as Rox puts his arm around his shoulder and walks with him.

"Why do I follow you?"

"You know you have fun with me." Kazu hits Rox on the side of the head with the side of his hand.

"Asshole." Rox leans to the side away from Kazu. When he recovers he reaches into his pocket but doesn't pull anything out.

"Aw man…where's my den den mushi at?" Kazu turns to look at Rox.

"You idiot! You lost the marine den den mushi?"

"I didn't lose it…I think…." Kazu looks around and sees the den den mushi under Rox foot.

"Hey, Captain Stupid, you're standing on it." Rox lifts up his foot and picks it up and walks with a fast pace past Kazu towards the explosion. As he walks past Kazu he hits him on the shoulder.

"I'm not stupid." Kazu shakes his head and smacks his right hand into his forehead as he follows Rox. "Are you hitting yourself again? Shouldn't do that, I've heard it causes brain damage." Kazu screams in frustration but says nothing. Further up ahead, Zoro is running after Luffy who he sees right in front of him. The rest of the crew manages to catch up to Zoro.

"Luffy! Where are you running to?" Zoro screams at Luffy as Luffy continues running.

"To find out where that explosion came from of course! Whoever did it interrupted my fight and I'm gonna find out who it is." As Luffy and his crew arrive at a clearing in the forest they see Luffy drop as he falls off a cliff.

"That idiot!" Just then Usopp and the others catch up to Zoro.

"Hey, what happened to Luffy?" Zoro turns to look at Usopp and points down to the bottom of the cliff.

"He fell down there." Before Usopp can respond, he and the rest of the crew hear noises coming from behind them.

"I think it's this way."

"What do you mean you think? Is it this way or not? We're already behind!"

"Relax. It's not a big deal."

"I WANT TO GET THIS OUT THE WAY SO I CAN KILL ZORO!" The two come through the forest and see the others.

"See? I told you to relax." Kazu shakes his head as Rox walks ahead of him and then looks at everyone. "Where's Luffy? Did he fall?" Just then they hear a faint scream from below the cliff. They all look down and see Luffy running straight ahead away from the cliff towards a village. Kazu turns to Zoro as Zoro looks at him with a questioningly look.

"What you staring at?"

"I thought I had it bad." Just then as Rox is looking over the edge losses his balance and falls down the cliff. Kazu stares in shock as Zoro laughs.

"You were saying?" Kazu stomps his foot and makes a fist at Zoro.

"Shut up!" Kazu takes a deep breath and walks over to Lucas and grabs him by the back of his collar. "Come on Lucas."

"Hey-! Put me down fi-!" Kazu jumps off the cliff and then lands on top of a tree below and as he grips the branch, he swings himself around and then springs himself forward to the ground. Zoro, Sanji, Franky, Robin and Chopper immediately follow suit as Usopp watches them in a panic.

"Wait a minute! I can't jump down this high! Please guys, can't we just sit and talk about this? Luffy will be fine! He doesn't need us." Just as Chopper jumps Usopp hurries and grabs onto him and holds on tightly as he screams while they leap off down the cliff wall from side to side. Once Chopper and Usopp get to the ground at the bottom of the cliff, they see everyone walking away towards the village. Usopp falls off and looks around as he holds his nose.

"Man, that hurts." He takes a deep breath as Chopper hovers over him in his reindeer form.

"Come on Usopp, hurry up or we'll leave you behind." Chopper begins walking away as Usopp turns to look at Chopper and holds his arm out in front of him as if reaching for Chopper.

"Hey! Wait up!" Usopp quickly gets up and dashes in front of Chopper and keeps going until he passes by Franky, Robin, Sanji, and Nami. He turns his back to what's in front of him as he continues back stepping in a jogging pace as he teases everyone behind him. "See how the table's turned? You guys just wait and let Luffy and me take care of everything." Just then he bumps into Kazu and falls on top of him. Kazu grunts as he looks up to see Usopp.

"Get…OFF!" Usopp screams and gets off Kazu quickly. As Kazu starts getting up, Rox comes from everyone's left side.

"Hey guys, I found the place where the explosion came from. From the looks of the crater it was pretty big too." Kazu dusts himself off and turns to look at Rox.

"Lead the way Captain." They all follow Rox through a forest trail that winds around the village. When they all arrive at the end, they see a bunch of people near the opening of a cave. On the outside of the cave, are about twenty pirates keeping a lookout as a couple other men are with them. Kazu, Zoro, and Rox are on one knee in the bushes as Chopper has reverted back to his small kid size next to Usopp who is behind a tree with Sanji next to Rox on one knee and Franky, and Robin are standing in the shadows of the forest with Brook and Lucas.

"I wonder what's going on here?" Everyone looks at Usopp. Rox answers first.

"Have no clue. Look!" He points to the opening of the cave. "Looks like someone is coming out." They all turn their attention to the cave and see a man that's tall with a height equal to Brook and is slim with long limbs. His hair is long and silver as if painted by the color of moonlight that is tied in a ponytail stopping just below his neck. His eyes are dark black with a piercing stare to the edges. His chin is chiseled and firm but his body is thin packed with muscles. He wears simply a grey shirt with the sleeves torn off and on one arm is the words 'hopeless' tattooed and the other arm has the words 'despair' tattooed on it. His pants are long and baggy with a dark color to them and black boots. He steps out of the cave with a look of disgust as he pulls on a chain and at the end of the chain is a woman tied up by her wrists and ankles. The pull forces her into the ground and he drags her along the ground, cutting up her skin from the rocks and pebbles. He lifts her up off the ground and as she dangles in mid-air, he slaps her across the face.

"I didn't come to this farce of an island ON A WILD GOOSE CHASE! Now you said you had something to bargain all these good people's lives for, so I expect to see something pronto!" The girl looks away at the ground as tears slide down her face. The tears hit the rocks followed by a drop of blood from her lip.

"I don't know where it is if it's not there. I was told by my father that a treasure lied buried in the cave." Just then a man comes out of the cave covered in dirt. The tall man holding the girl turns to look at him.

"You find anything?" The man shakes his head.

"No Captain Moose. We're better off just taking off with what we got." Captain Moose screams and then swings the chains the girl is bound to around in the air and slams the girl on the ground. Everyone from Strawhat crew including Lucas, Rox and Kazu stare in shock. Sanji grits his teeth on his cigarette as he starts to jump out but Chopper quickly grabs him and pins him down.

"That bastard! I'll show him the proper way to treat a lady! Who does he think he is?" Kazu looks at Rox.

"Isn't that Captain B.J Moose?" Rox takes a deep breath as everyone looks at Kazu and Rox from one to the other.

"Yep…that's him alright. Didn't expect him to be way out here in these parts of the Grand Line though." Sanji turns his attention to Kazu and Rox.

"You two know this bastard? Are you associated with him or something?" Kazu places his hands on his dagger behind his back as Zoro places his hand under the hilt of his sword and uses his thumb to tap the sword lose from its sheath. Rox immediately gets between everyone and places his hands out.

"Calm down Kazu!" Kazu takes his hand off the dagger and turns his back to everyone. Rox takes a deep breath and then turns to look at Sanji who is now slowly getting up. "We know of his reputation but we're certainly not associated with him nor have we ever had anything to do with him. He's a notorious pirate who only thinks about money and how to get his hands on it. He'll do anything from stealing and destroying villages and towns to slave trading to take percentages off the top for their market price. He's a highly wanted pirate with a bounty of at least two hundred million only because of the number of cities and towns he's destroyed and managing to escape the marines. On top of that, because of the human trafficking, Kazu hates him." Kazu turns around to face the others.

"It's not just that. I made a promise to myself and my friends before that I would help put an end to all kinds of people like him. I had actually hunted him down and managed to corner him but he slipped through my grasp and managed to escape somehow. But he has no remorse or care for any life, especially those who he sees as beneath him."

"So is he taking over this village to sell the people here?" Robin interjects. Kazu nods his head.

"Most likely." Franky then steps up.

"Well what are we waiting around here for? Let's go destroy them and help those people."

"It's not that simple Franky. He's actually stronger than most of us. If we do this it's gonna take all of us to defeat him. Let Rox and I go distract him to draw him in to fight us. While they focus on us, you guys work as a team to help free the slaves. Once they're free, we can take him out together without having to worry about him hurting innocent people."

"Sounds like a plan." Franky says as everyone smiles and nods their head in agreement. They turn to Captain Moose to see him still holding the shackled woman by her chains. He kicks one of his crew members and sends him flying into the cave. At that moment, someone comes falling through the air and lands on top of him. They all stare in shock as they see Luffy standing up and wiping himself from the dirt.

"Sorry about that. Are you okay?" Captain Moose turns his head to the nearest pirate near him.

"Kill him!" The pirate pulls out a gun and shoots at Luffy but the bullet bounces off his head and flies right into the shooter's leg. He falls to the ground holding his leg as everyone stares in shock. Captain Moose quickly gets up and ties the chains that imprison the girl to a rock. "What kind of devil fruit did this kid eat?" Luffy turns his head to the man and smiles.

"The rubber fruit." Moose rubs his chin as he thinks to himself.

"Oh…rubber, huh?" Moose pulls out a long machete blade and raises it in the air. "Chop him to pieces boys!" They all scream as Rox and Kazu look to one another for an instant before Rox takes off towards Captain Moose.

"We better go. You two start freeing the slaves." Kazu tells the others before he turns to run behind Rox. At this point, Luffy is tearing apart Captain Moose's men as he fights them head on.

"Gumo Gumo No…GAITLING GUN!" Luffy starts whipping his arms back and forth as he punches everyone in front of him and knocks them out after sending them flying a few feet. Someone manages to get behind him and swings for his neck but Luffy ducks his head forward below the swing and then twists his body so he can kick him in the side of the head with a round house kick. Next he stretches his hands way behind his back. "Gumo Gumo No….BAZOOKA!" He strikes his palms into the stomach of a pirate that gets sent flying into other people. Captain Moose looks in pure rage as he grits his teeth while watching his men get decimated.

"Stop playing around and KILL THIS MAGGOT!" Just then Rox fist slams straight into his jaw but his fist goes through him as his face falls apart and becomes runny like a liquid. Captain Moose's eyes turn to Rox. "Who are you?" Just then a sword cuts through his ribcage and takes his left arm and shoulder off his body but when it falls to the ground it turns to mud.

"Remember me?" Captain Moose turns his gaze to look at Kazu and stares in shock.

"You…I remember you! You're the punk who foiled my plans back on Costias Island. You won't get away from me this time!"

"That's exactly what I was thinking." Kazu swings his sword and chops Captain Moose's head off but as it turns to mud and hits the ground, his body becomes runny and turns to mud.

"MUD WALL!" Just then the lump of mud that was Moose's body reshapes itself back to the body it was before with his arms raised above his head and suddenly a huge wall of mud raises up from the ground and completely covers Rox and Kazu inside it. He instantly hardens it and locks the two inside.

"Aw man…well this sucks! My nose itches!"

"Shut up captain stupid!"

"Hey, if I'm so stupid, then how did you get trapped in here too?"

"SHUT UP THE BOTH OF YOU!" Moose begins walking towards the wall of mud just as Luffy comes running straight at him.

"Hold on a second! GUMO GUMO NO…." Luffy twists his arm as he stretches it behind him. "…RIFLE!" He then thrusts the spinning punch towards Moose which hits him straight into his chest and makes his body burst into pieces from the force of his punch. As bits and pieces of mud fly everywhere, Luffy continues running towards Kazu and Rox. "Are you two okay?"

"Just get us out Luffy!" Kazu screams as Rox blinks his eyes.

"Okay, hold on one second." Luffy pushes on the wall of mud but just then Moose wraps up Luffy in a ball of Mud.

"What? What is this?" Moose springs up from the ground with a smirk.

"Mud…ball." He immediately kicks Luffy trapped in a ball of mud, locking his limbs inside the ball, in to the cave. Luffy screams as he goes flying in to the cave. Moose turns his attention back to Kazu and Rox. "Now…what was I in the middle of doing? Oh yes, destroying the two of you."

"Hissato Star!" Just then Moose back bursts into flames as he screams at the intense heat. He falls forward to his face as Chopper comes from behind Rox and Kazu and pushes the wall to let it smash to pieces on the ground. As soon as the two get free, they both jump back away from Moose.

"Oh yeah! It's time to beat…his…"

"Wait captain!" Kazu grabs Rox and pulls him to the side so the other Strawhat pirates can't overhear what is being said. "See if you can get the navy to come here to help arrest this guy. It'd make things a lot easier." Rox smiles at Kazu.

"Not a bad idea." Rox pulls out the navy den den mushi in his pocket and walks away from the fight as Kazu rushes in towards Moose. As Usopp, Brook, Zoro, Kazu and Chopper are attacking Moose, the others are moving in to the cave. Rox sneaks into the woods and makes the call to the navy.

"Hello?"

"Yeah, this is Lt. Brenan! I need to speak with a high ranking officer. I've made contact with Captain Moose and need assistance."

"Oh, Lt. Brenan! I'm sorry but we're gathering most of our forces at HQ right now due to the public execution of Portgas D. Ace. We won't be able to send any marine forces to your current location at this point in time. Furthermore-(Click)!" Rox immediately closes the connection as he stuffs the den den mushi back into his pocket.

"Shit!" Rox looks up to see Moose release a wave of mud from his hand at Brook to push him into the wall and pin him down with a constant flow of mud. Brook struggles to get free from the constant pressure as both Kazu and Zoro continue to swing their swords at Moose but to no avail, the attacks just go through him.

"If I don't…get out…of this…mud….I'll drown…" Just then Rox punches the ground and the force of the punch travels along the ground and when it reaches Moose, makes him lose his balance and fall down. Brook then finally is set free from the constant flow of mud and falls to the ground. "Even though I can't drown due to being just bones. YOHOHOHOHOHO!" Suddenly a small rock falls on to Brook's head and makes him stop laughing. Kazu turns to look at Rox as everyone surrounds Moose.

"Please tell me you got reinforcements." Kazu whispers in Rox's ear but Rox shakes his head side to side.

"We're on our own."

"Damn!" Kazu tightens the grip on his sword as Zoro begins to rush in. Moose dodges the first sword and places his hands on the handle of the other two to stop their swing. Then he picks Zoro up and throws him into the air and immediately spits a bullet of mud at Zoro that hits him in the chest and knocks him down.

"I'm through with these childish games! TIDAL FLOOD!" Moose brings his hands together in front of his chest and once he extends them, releases a huge ball of mud that spreads outwards from his body which knocks everybody back several tens of feet away from him. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some business to finish." He laughs confidently as he slowly walks away towards the cave. He unties the chained girl and picks her up by her hair and places her on his shoulder. "You will be with me to enjoy my company for all my travels throughout the seas!" His boisterous loud laugh echoes throughout the opening of the cave as it fades away to a silent muffle. Meanwhile, deep within the cave, Sanji, Lucas, Nami, Robin, and Franky are still making their way to the slaves. Elsewhere within the cave, Luffy has gotten himself stuck in a corner while still trapped inside the ball of mud. Luffy continues to struggle to get his arms and legs free from within the ball of mud as he grunts and moans.

"Damnit! I can't get free! Stupid Moose! I'll beat him up real good when I get out of here!" While Sanji and the others are walking, Sanji sees the cages and inside the cages are chains along the wall that have everyone tied to the wall together. He sees mostly a lot of women that have tattered clothes and are covered in dirt. Some are even bleeding or have dried blood on their faces.

"Hey! Wait just a minute! I'll get you out!" He sprints towards the cages as two pirates appear in front of him.

"Not so fast! You got to go through us first." Sanji front flips and does a split in the air to wrap his feet around their necks and then spin them around and toss them into a wall so hard their heads break through the rock. Sanji lands on his feet and takes out a cigarette and lights it. As he blows the smoke out, he turns to look at his work.

"You two can shut up and die. There's a proper way to tread a lady and I'll beat every rule in to your body until you remember them." Franky and Nami pass by Sanji as Lucas ushers Sanji to move.

"Come on Sanji." Sanji turns and moves towards the people that are locked up and as he is running, at the last second he leaps forward and extends his foot to jump kick the steel door and knock it off its hinges to fall to the ground. Everyone looks up at Sanji but doesn't move.

"Come on everyone. Get up! We need to get you out of here." Robin and Nami quickly move with Franky to break the chains and help them up but they all refuse to get up or move. One man speaks from the corner of the cage.

"We're not going. We are grateful for your help and really appreciate it but we don't want to risk getting killed by Captain Moose. Until you defeat him, we wish to stay here." Nami gets in his face.

"But if you stay here you'll be sold to slavery where some person is just going to abuse you until you die!" The man looks at Nami unfazed.

"Little girl, we all die some day. If I have a choice to live past today, this moment, then I'll do that. As long as I choose to live then I always have a chance to get free. Like I said, if you can defeat Captain Moose then we'll leave but until he's gone we aren't going anywhere. You aren't aware of this but when he first came to our island days ago, he killed many of our friends and family. He took most of the women that same day and had his way with them until he grew bored or changed his mind. Later on he sold them to pirates. After he finished selling them to pirates, he left the healthiest of us here to sell to the Celestial Dragons. When he had setup everything to be done, Jewel tried to bargain him with a treasure of gold that her father told her about from the time she was young. It's supposedly buried somewhere here in this cave but they've been searching this cave for days and haven't found anything. We are sure to be sold unless someone can stop him. So please, if you truly wish to set us free, then defeat him. Defeat Captain Moose!" Just then the sounds of chains rattling can be heard echoing off the walls of the cave. "That's gotta be him now with Jewel. You gotta go!" Franky turns his head to the path as does everyone else.

"We aren't going anywhere old man. We're gonna defeat this guy!" As Moose appears in front of them he stops in his tracks.

"What's going on here? You trying to damage my merchandise?" Sanji scoffs as he runs in.

"COLLIER!" Sanji thrusts his foot towards Moose neck which knocks his head off and into the wall. As it collides with the wall, it turns to mud and falls apart. Sanji and everyone look in shock as they see Moose body become runny and wet as it starts changing to mud and falls to the ground to make a puddle. The girl looks in shock as she falls to the ground shaking her head.

"No! No! NOT AGAIN!" Just then the puddle of mud rises from the ground and attaches itself to Sanji wrapping itself around him to keep his limbs held in place.

"What is he doing?" Just then the mud turns into a huge hand and launches Sanji into the wall hard to make the front of his body leave an imprint in the wall. Everyone turns to look at Sanji fall to the ground and not move.

"Sanji!" Nami looks at Sanji's still body and starts running over to him. A laughter begins creeping through the cave as everyone looks at the source coming from the huge hand which has a face appear in the palm.

"Mud….hand." Suddenly a gunshot goes off and where the face was is blown off to leave a huge hole in the palm of the mud hand. Everyone turns their heads to see where the shot came from and see Lucas with a huge long range gun that has some kind of scope on top of it. Franky does a thumbs up at Lucas and smiles.

"Franky! Do it now!" Franky nods his head at Lucas.

"I understand. FRESH….FIRE!" Franky takes a deep breath and then blows out a huge flame that hits Moose and leaves him screaming in pain. Lucas takes off past Moose and stops in front of the girl. He turns to Nami over by Sanji.

"Grab him Nami! We're getting out of here before we cause a cave in and hurt these people!"

"Okay, I got him. Lead the way Lucas." As Lucas picks up the girl and carries her away, the others begin running past Lucas towards the exit of the cave. Lucas looks down at the girl who is shivering in his arms.

"Miss, are you okay? What's your name?" She nods her head and looks away shyly.

"My name is Jewel Hatchet…" Lucas smiles at her as she looks away.

"You'll be safe with us."

"You promise?" Lucas nods his head.

"On the honor of my captain." She smiles and looks ahead as the light from the cave exit begins to shine and light the cave. Meanwhile, back at the cages, Moose is slowly getting up in his human form. He slams his fist into the ground and looks in the direction everyone left in.

"They…WILL NOT ESCAPE MY WRATH!" He turns to mud and slides along the ground as he begins to try and gain ground to catch up to Lucas and the others. Elsewhere, Luffy remains trapped in a corner of the cave with his head poking out of the mud ball that is wedged in between the ceiling and floor. Luffy continues to struggle but can't move. He finally exhales a deep breath.

"Enough of this…I've got to help my crew. GUMO GUMO NO…" Luffy takes a deep breath and holds it. "…FUUSEN!" He stretches his chest and stomach to expand himself and break through the hard mud. Once he's free he looks around and sees a path to his right and left. He breaks to the left and runs as fast as he can. As he runs down the walkway, he screams out loud and continues traveling through the cave making turns in a random order. He eventually sees a cage up ahead on his right. He stops in front of the cage and sees people inside. "Hey, are you people okay?" The old man in the cage looks to see Luffy and squints his eyes.

"Are you a friend of those people that came here earlier?" Luffy looks at him with eagerness as he places his hands on the cage bars.

"Old man, you know my friends?" He rubs his chin as he thinks about the people that were just there.

"Well I don't know if they were your friends…? But they were fighting with the man that imprisoned us Captain Moose. They just left that way to head outside of the cave." The old man points to the path that Lucas and the others left from.

"Thanks old man! By the way, why are you locked inside here?" The old man takes a deep breath and begins telling Luffy what he told Nami earlier. As Luffy hears this, his face changes from one of surprise to a serious look with a tint of anger and he takes his straw hat and adjusts it. "Old man..I'll defeat him for you." The old man smiles as he looks at Luffy slowly turn around to face the path that leads out of the cave.

"I know you're friends with those people now. They promised the same thing."

"Okay…" Luffy then bends his knees and places his right hand on the ground in the shape of a fist with his left hand on his left knee. "GEAR…SECOND!" Just then his legs turn to pumps and they pump three times until his skin turns red and steam emits from his body. The old man looks at Luffy in shock as everyone looks at Luffy wondering what he's doing. Luffy then looks up straight ahead and takes off running towards the exit of the cave. Meanwhile, Lucas and the others are running out of the cave and see Rox, Kazu, Zoro, Usopp, Chopper and Brook on the ground but slowly starting to get up. Lucas runs with Jewel towards Rox and Kazu as Robin and Franky run with Nami holding Sanji up towards Zoro and the others. Rox looks at Lucas and smiles but then looks questioningly at Jewel.

"Lucas, who is she?" Rox pokes his head over Lucas arms to look at Jewel who shyly turns her head away and looks up Lucas. "Hey, relax, I'm not gonna hurt you. Can you tell me your name?" Lucas nods his head and lets her down out of his arms and she stands on her feet.

"My name's Jewel Hatchet." Rox bends down to one knee and places his hand gently on her head and rubs it gently.

"You can call me Rox. It's a pleasure to meet you." Kazu steps past Rox and Jewel and walks towards Lucas.

"Enough with the warm and fuzzies! Where's Moose Lucas? And what happened to getting the slaves out?" Lucas turns his attention to Kazu as he sighs.

"Moose should be coming out of the cave right behind us any second now. As for the slaves, they chose to stay there until we took care of mud man first. So we subdued him just enough to get out so to not cause a cave in and end up hurting them."

"Fine. We'll destroy him when he comes out." Kazu turns to look at Nami and the others. "You guys ready?" They all stand facing the cave with a serious look as they say in unison, 'yeah'. "Let's get serious." Just then Captain Moose bursts from the entrance of the cave as a huge mass of mud at twenty feet in height and eleven feet in width. His head pokes out at the top with his mouth open and screaming down at the others.

"YOU WILL ALL BE DESTROYED!" Everyone stands firm as Kazu steps forward.

"You ready captain?" Rox looks away from Jewel at Moose.

"Yeah. Stay with Lucas Jewel. I'll be right back once I finish beating this guy up!" Rox gets off the ground and stands up beside Kazu. "Oh yeah! Almost forgot!" Rox reaches into his pocket and pulls out a key. "Hey Lucas!" Rox tosses the key to Lucas who catches it. "If things get hectic, free yourself from those shackles of yours." Lucas smiles and puts the key into his pocket.

"Okay Captain." Lucas begins to immediately usher Jewel away and take her into the forest as the others make a united front against Captain Moose. Kazu takes the sword wrapped around his waist and then sticks it into the ground and slowly keeps walking towards Moose who is still tall and a lump of mud. Zoro sees him drop the sword and looks from the sword to him.

"Hey, you forgot the sword."

"Don't need it…" Just then Captain Moose shoots out of his mouth a huge mud ball aimed straight at Kazu. Kazu looks at the oncoming attack and grins. He slowly extends his hand out front and the second the mud ball touches his fingers a quick gust of wind bursts forth from his hand to make it stop completely. "Air…tunnel!" The huge mud ball whips backwards and hits Moose in the face which sends him reeling. As his balance shakes Kazu gets into an attack stance as if he was a bare knuckle fighter and yells as a huge force of wind comes out of his body. Kazu throws a punch in front of him and releases the air with a snap. The air travels at a high speed towards Moose and once it hits him in the chest, a loud thunderous clap is heard. The force of the attack makes Moose fall down to the ground and become a huge puddle of mud. "Thunder punch." Everyone from Luffy's crew looks at Kazu in shock, especially Usopp and Chopper.

"That's amazing! How did you do that Kazu?" Kazu turns to look at Chopper.

"I ate the air fruit. So I'm made up entirely of air." Zoro looks at him questioningly.

"How come you didn't use that power before?" Kazu looks over at Zoro.

"I'll explain all of that later. Now isn't exactly the best time!" Just then Moose springs up from the ground like a geyser and as some of the mud drops to the ground, his body reshapes into multiple clones.

"Now, prepare to face my mud clone army! Continue fighting until you have nothing left and then I'll tear you apart one at a time. MUAHAHAHAHA!" Rox slams his hand onto the ground and suddenly the ground begins to shake. As the ground shakes, Moose turns to look at him.

"What are you doing?" Rox smirks as vines burst out the earth and wrap around all of the clones as thorns spring from them and pierce all of the clones.

"WATER VINEYARD!" Immediately the clones begin drying up and turn from mud to dry dirt. Once they've changed to dirt, Kazu extends his hand and blows a strong gust of wind to blow the dirt clones away. Moose's body rises from the ground as he looks with anger at Kazu and Rox. Kazu crosses his arms as Rox stands straight up looking directly at Moose.

"You're finished Moose! Your reign of human trafficking ends today." The ground shakes and Moose sprouts up from the ground with a roar of anger as his bellowing voice shakes with the ground and cracks along the air. His body forms out of the mud into the shape of a giant. He raises his hand up into the air to strike at everyone on the ground. As his hand comes towards the ground, something smashes into the back of Moose with enough force to cause him to pause and look behind him.

"GUMO GUMO NO…JET GATLING GUN!" Suddenly a barrage of blows strike through the chest of Moose causing mud to fling in every direction. As the mud goes flying in different directions, Moose drops in size. Once the huge giant legs have been taken out, he turns his body and drops on Luffy. Luffy struggles against the mud as it ties him down to the ground and keeps his legs tied. At that moment, the red skin fades away and the steam is gone as the effects of the second gear wear off.

"Luffy!" Nami screams out towards her captain as she pulls out her staff with rounded ends and waves it around until a section breaks off and starts spinning around in a circle. Nami begins running towards Luffy but suddenly, a piece of the mud that broke off from Moose body starts rising up and forms into the shape of a beast with four legs, spikes down its spine and a wide jaw with sharp teeth. As Nami sees the beast, she looks around to see all the rest of the giant mud puddles form into the creature and begin attacking her crewmates. Usopp runs away from one as Chopper transforms to his human form and begins knocking them back with his fists. Robin uses her devil fruit power to grab the beasts with hands that sprout from the ground to throw them into one another as the rest of Luffy's crew is attacking them. But as the mud creatures fall apart, they reform back into what they were. Nami dodges the beast that lunges at her and swings her pole that shoots out a bolt of lightning that turns the mud beast into a pile of ash. Luffy stares at his feet which are locked to the ground as a cage made of mud springs up around him and traps him inside. He places his hands on the mud bars and screams as he looks at his crew.

"Nami! Everyone!" A soft chuckle emits from the ground below Luffy as he looks down to see Moose face appear below him.

"Scream all you want Strawhat Luffy. You won't escape from this cage and your friends will succumb to my Mud Hellhouds." Luffy punches Moose face immediately.

"Shut up! My friends are way stronger than those things! Now let me out of here!" Just then a mud spike shoots up from the ground and stabs Luffy into the back hard enough to lift him off the ground and to cough up blood. His entire crew looks in shock as they see their captain go limp. Zoro takes his swords and spins around.

"SANTOURYUU TATSUMAKI!" Zoro's tornado blows away several of the mud beasts around him. Once he clears a path, he begins immediately making his way towards his captain. As Zoro starts dashing towards Luffy and the cage, Sanji follows beside him, kicking the mud beasts that block the way while Usopp charges behind them with Franky. Usopp and Franky then take the front as they both get ready to attack a huge group of mud beasts. "HISSATO STAR!"

"FRESH FIRE!" The two launch fire at the mud beasts which burns them up to turn them to ash and clears a path to Luffy. Suddenly arms wrap around Luffy's body and imprison him inside as the fire spreads to the cage and encompass it. As the mud is burnt off, Robin's arms throws Luffy to Chopper who catches him and runs towards the forest. The rest of the crew including Brook stands tall in front of Moose who is standing at his normal height. Just then Kazu and Rox approach Moose from the side of him. Kazu looks at Zoro for a second.

"Is your captain gonna be okay?"

"Of course he'll be fine. Don't worry about him." Moose raises a mud clone from the ground and splits into two different directions. Zoro rushes the one headed towards him. "SANTOURYUU…108 POUND CANNON!" He swings his two swords which cut the air and as the slice approaches Moose he looks in shock before it hits him and splits his chest in half diagonally. Moose stops immediately as Brook walks past him and sheaths his sword.

"ARROW NOTCH STRIKE!" Then Moose's head is severed off the body at the neck which creates the opening for Usopp to shoot.

"TRIPLE HISSATO STAR!" Usopp fires three fireballs which hit Moose in the body and the flames spread out rapidly covering his body in the fire. Moose reels back and forth from the intense heat as he looks to his left and sees Sanji coming through the air with his leg on fire.

"DIABLE…JAMBLE…COSSIER!" Sanji's leg shoots straight through Moose chest to create a big gaping hole to make the entire mud clone crumble to the ground. Meanwhile, Kazu fades away to nothing as Rox jumps in between where Kazu stood and Moose. Rox's eyes change before he punches Moose body hard into the chest which stops him from moving and hurts him deeply. Moose looks in shock at Rox as he stumbles backwards with the mud off of him and a bruise on his rib cage from the punch.

"Ha…ha…haki…?" Rox punches him hard across the jaw to send him flying and instantly Kazu reappears behind Moose.

"TWISTING BLADES!" A whirlwind stirs up from the ground around Moose and hurls him into the air towards the sky. As he is forced higher into the air, he spins with the whirlwind being cut up constantly. After he is shot out of the whirlwind, Rox jumps towards him and kicks him square in the face to make him hit the ground hard. As he slowly stands up, blood escapes past his lips and drips from his neck. Everyone closes around him as Moose looks at them in disgust.

"It's over B.J Moose." Moose looks at Rox as Rox folds his arms with a focused stare that looks intently at B.J Moose for any hint of movement. Without saying a word Moose lifts his body off the ground as a geyser of mud springs from underneath him. He stands on top of the gushing mud and looks down at everyone.

"Fine! If you want to free those worthless people so bad then you can have them! AFTER I DROWN THEM ALL!" He laughs outloud as everyone begins looking with a panicked expression. Moose raises his arm and points at the cave entrance as the geyser of mud begins moving towards the cave. Everyone begins running after him but aren't able to keep up. Suddenly an explosion bursts right in front of Moose and drops him to the ground with smoke coming from his body. Everyone looks around as Kazu and Rox smile at each other. The two of them turn to the forest and smile.

"What took you so long, Lucas?" Luffy's crew gasps as they see Lucas standing by a tree smiling. He yawns and stretches his arms out as everyone notices the chains are off his wrists and ankles.

"Sorry, running all the way back to the ship to get that girl Jewel to safety was tiring. I took a nap on the way back." Kazu immediately gets in Lucas face.

"Now isn't the time to be taking naps Lucas!" Lucas puts his hands out in front of Kazu as he smiles and kindly pushes Kazu off of him.

"It isn't really the time for debates either. I'm here now." Rox gravitates to being beside Lucas.

"He's right you know. We are in the middle of something. Saving lines, beating up Moose, helping Luffy's crew…."

"I'M AWARE OF THE SITUATION!" Kazu screams as Usopp and Nami stare at Kazu, Rox, and Lucas with Franky, Brook, Sanji, Robin, and Zoro.

"Are they really a crew?" Usopp says as he looks at Nami.

"I guess…probably." Nami answers as she looks at Zoro while Robin nods her head in agreement.

"Best to stay out of it." Moose begins to slowly get up as everyone turns their attention back to Moose. Lucas grins as he steps around Kazu.

"How'd you like my 'Pocket Bomb'?" Moose moans from the pain of the blast. His head swivels side to side as he tries to focus on the people in front of him. As he starts to stand up, he loses his sense of balance and catches himself with his left hand. His breathing becomes rough and heavy. Just as Moose finally makes it to his feet, a sound can be heard in the distance. Everyone looks around but doesn't see anything until a tree in the forest falls to the ground followed by two more trees. Luffy then emerges from out of the forest and screams as he runs towards Moose with Chopper behind him.

"Wait Luffy! You aren't fully healed yet!" Luffy screams as he blazes towards Moose. Moose staggers as he sees him coming. He shakes his head side to side and then places his hand on the ground. The ground shakes and trembles. Luffy cocks back his right fist and immediately sends it flying.

"GUMO GUMO NO…PISTOL!" Luffy's fist stops just short of Moose's face as a huge mud wall rises up out the ground in front of Moose to prevent the attack from hitting him. Then the mud wall turns into the shape of a tidal wave and begins hurling towards Luffy. Luffy jumps into the air and bites his thumb. "GEAR….THIRD!" Luffy blows on his thumb hard and creates a huge blown up arm. The air in the arm travels to his body and then goes to his left arm directly into his fist. "GUMO GUMO NO…GIGANTE PISTOL!" Moose smiles as he looks at the oncoming attack.

"Your attack won't work on me Luffy! I'll destroy you the second it's over!" Just then Moose feels something and looks down to see a tiny flower touching his feet. The petals suddenly break off and blow away as more and more petals flow through the air. Rox chuckles and begins laughing out loud as Moose stares at him with a questioning look.

"Death…sap." Luffy's fist then comes down on top of Moose to create a huge crater in the ground. When Luffy's fist deflates and his body becomes really small like a midget, everyone sees Moose out cold on the ground. As Luffy tries to catch his breath, everyone begins to relax as they see Moose not moving. Kazu sheaths his sword as does Zoro while Sanji takes a cigarette and lights it. Rox slowly walks over to Moose and looks at him with a smile. Kazu fades away and reappears beside Rox. The two of them look down at the unconscious Moose as Lucas slowly walks up on the other side of Rox. "One of yall take him back to the ship and make sure you lock him down tight." Lucas turns to look at Kazu who isn't there any longer. He looks in shock at how fast he disappeared to go over to Zoro.


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey! Wait Kazu! At least help me carry this guy back to the ship!" Lucas turns back to the captain and sees he's already walked off to go over to Robin. Lucas takes a deep heavy sigh and picks up Moose and starts walking away. Meanwhile, Luffy has returned to his normal size and immediately stands up and screams.

"SANJI! BRING ME SOME FOOD!" Sanji takes a puff of his cigarette and looks at his captain.

"Quiet down Luffy. I'll make you something in a minute but first we need to get those people out of the cave." Usopp, Chopper, Brook and Franky begin heading towards the cave. As Zoro begins to walk with the rest of the crew Kazu comes up behind him. Zoro looks back to keep his eyes on Kazu.

"Don't forget Zoro. We still have our match after everything is settled here." Zoro makes a facial expression of frustration as he turns his head forward.

"I know that. You'll get your match." Kazu smirks as he picks up a faster pace and walks in front of Zoro.

"Good to hear." Zoro looks at his back and as he glances to the left he notices the sheathed sword on Kazu's hip is there.

"Tell me something Kazu. What's the deal with that sword around your waist? I noticed during our fight that you never used it and even when we fought that pirate that you took it off. And how were you able to use those wind powers of yours?" Kazu takes a deep breath as he enters the cave behind Nami and Robin with Rox in front of them.

"A long time ago, I ate the air fruit. It allows me to control the air current and turned my body to air. It's a very useful power but it hinders my swordsmanship skills." Overhearing the conversation, Brook interjects a question.

"How does that hinder your swordsmanship skills? Being able to use the air should make your attacks stronger."

"It can and it does but there is a catch. With the air power my body is turned to air so swords can't pierce my body. While that is a great perk it is a greater disadvantage. If swords can't pierce my body, then deadly blows like to my organs or vital points become ignored. If they become ignored and I'm in a situation where someone can attack my vital points or weaknesses around my air power then I increased my chances of losing due to ignorance. So to make sure that I develop my strength correctly and am able to correctly guard myself I got myself this sword." Kazu pulls out the sword on his hip and shows it to everyone. It's a mid-length sword with a dull blade side but sharp point. Zoro examines it and smiles to himself.

"A kodachi?"

"Yes Zoro, a kodachi. I learned to use this to better learn how to defend against attacks that would strike at my weaknesses and vital points. To ensure I had to use this blade, it came with a special kind of sheath. A sheath made up entirely of sea stone." Nami, Robin, Franky, Chopper, Sanji, and Brook turn to look at Kazu.

"Sea stone?" Zoro looks at Kazu with a look of confusion as he asks the question.

"As you should know, the sea stone emits the power of the sea and cancels all devil fruit powers. So as long as I wear this sheath around my waist, it will always weaken me to the point of not being able to use my air powers. But it won't be strong enough to leave me useless in battle." Franky looks at him and comments about the subject.

"So basically, since you wanted to improve your defensive skills in battle you figured out a way to lose your devil fruit powers."

"More or less. I take great pride in being a swordsman and it is my goal to become the greatest." As they approach the cages, Kazu immediately turns his body to face Zoro as Zoro stares back. "I don't want to just surpass Dracule Mihawk. I want to be the greatest swordsman to ever sail the grand line Zoro." Zoro stares right into the eyes of Kazu as he does the same. A moment passes between them of unvoiced understanding in which the two smile at each other. As Zoro and Kazu share their moment, Nami, Robin, Chopper, Usopp and Sanji along with Rox helps the people out of the cage as both Chopper and Rox tend to the ones who have injuries. As the captives who aren't injured make their way out of the cave, Chopper, Rox and Sanji help carry people out of the cave who are too injured to walk. Once they are able to get everyone outside the cave, people begin walking towards the village. When they arrive back at the village, Rox, Sanji, and Kazu begin cooking three pigs. Sanji chops up the meat and boils it in a huge pot as Rox makes a stone grill and cooks it on the rocks. Kazu takes the pig and roasts it over an open fire. Usopp, Chopper and Franky immediately stand on top of a podium and begin dancing to music that Brook is playing. While people cheer on Usopp, Chopper and Franky, Nami and Robin smile while they clap to the music and Luffy begins eating food that is on a large table that seats thirty people. People move to sit next to Luffy as Zoro sits at the table with a huge mug and begins drinking. He turns to look at the mug and stares at it in shock.

"Hey, not bad…." One of the villagers comes over to him and wraps his arm around his neck. Zoro turns his head to look at the villager as he starts to speak.

"That's cause the temperature here is perfect weather for fermenting the rice and grapes to make a nice blended flavored sake. This is the only place you can get sake like this." Zoro takes another drink as Sanji, Rox and Kazu finish cooking their pigs and place them on the table for everyone to eat. Everyone cheers at the excitement and how good the food smells and looks. Luffy stands up from the table and throws his arms in the air while holding a mug. He launches the mug into the air and catches it without spilling anything and wipes his mouth.

"Alright! In celebration of defeating a very tough opponent and helping these people out, let's EAT! ITADKIMAS!"

"Itadkimas!" As everyone replies in agreement, they begin eating and enjoying the food as some of them slap away Luffy's hands from the table as Luffy tries to eat the food on their plate as well. Chopper looks over at Rox who is eating food as fast as Luffy with a puzzled look on his face.

"Hey Rox. Can I ask you something?" Rox turns his head to look at Chopper while chewing a mouth full of food.

"Uf korck se…" Kazu leans across the table and hits Rox in the head which surprises Chopper.

"FINISH CHEWING FIRST! Geez! Can't understand a thing you said." Rox swallows his food and looks at Chopper.

"Of course you can." Chopper looks down and recalls in his head the memory of the fight and remembers the attack that Rox did that sprout forth a bunch of vines. He looks at the ground for a second and then turns to Rox.

"I was just wondering, what was that power you used to make vines come out of the ground. You had said you ate a devil fruit. What kind of power was it?" At that moment, Lucas and Jewel comes to the village and finds everyone at the table outside. Rox turns to Chopper as well as everyone at the table but Lucas cuts in before Rox can say a word.

"Excuse me Captain, but someone has something to say to you." Rox looks up at Lucas.

"What is it, Lucas?" He ushers Jewel forward as she gasps at the sudden push to be at the center of everyone's gaze. She looks down and uses her fingers to twist and play with her dress which is at the length of her knees and is a mixture of different shades of blue. As she raises her head, her eyes reveal a red tint with a ruby colored highlight style of hair to match with an offset of black hair on the tips. Her skin is the color of rich soil that has been soaked in water. Jewel looks at Rox as everyone waits on edge for what is about to be said.

"Umm….I would like…to join…your crew, that is, umm…if it's okay….for someone like me to join…" Some of the villagers at the table stand up in shock.

"Jewel! Why would you leave us?" One of the villagers says. Another comes up behind him.

"Yeah Jewel, please don't go!" Kazu immediately jumps up and gets in the two villagers face.

"Shut up! This is between her and the captain! You're not a part of this!" Rox stands up and turns to Kazu.

"It's fine Kazu, let them speak. She needs to fully understand what she's asking right now anyway." Everyone turns silent as everyone from Luffy's crew just sits and watches the moment that is transpiring in front of their eyes. "Now then, your name is Jewel Hatchet right?" She nods her head as she looks at Rox. "And how old are you?"

"I'm sixteen." Rox folds his arms.

"The sea is a dangerous place Jewel. It's not for those who are weak of heart, much less unable to defend themselves. If you're either of those, requesting to be on any kind of ship is a death wish and I can't protect everyone but even more than that, I'm not going to continually protect people who can't protect themselves. But before I make my decision, why would you want to travel the sea with me?" Jewel looked at Rox as she clutched at her dress.

"I know good and well how dangerous the sea can be. The sea took my father away from me. He was a pirate as well, just like you Rox. He was strong, and brave, and really cool. He would come home every now and then when he had finished an adventure. He never hurt people even though he was a pirate. But one day, seven years ago, my father left the island and never came back. It was so unlike him, that everyone just knew he was dead. But everyone on the island loved him and knew that not all pirates were bad." Jewel starts to shiver uncontrollably. Her face looking away from Rox towards the ground as her eyes swell up with tears that slowly roll down her cheeks one at a time. She closes her eyes as she drops to her knees. The villagers run to her side as Kazu, Rox, Luffy and the rest of the Strawhat crew stay where they are. Lucas keeps everyone back as Jewel cries sitting on her knees. "Then….then that, that, HORRIBLE man came to our village! We were so excited. We thought at first…it might have been my father. We had been given up on him being alive but…for just a second…we had hope…" She cried even harder as everyone from the village hung their heads in shame at being unable to do anything to ease Jewel's pain. Kazu took a sip of his drink as Jewel began to speak again. "It was bad enough that we assumed it was my father. What made it worse was the amount of people he killed, tortured and did perverted things to. Also…he…he was responsible…for killing my mother…. That's why I have to go. If I stay here, I'll have to live everyday through the haunted memories of my family. I have to get out to sea to escape my past so I can move forward. I know it's dangerous but I can get stronger. I'll do whatever it takes to get stronger but please…please let me go with you!" Rox took a deep breath as everyone turned to look at him. He takes a big yawn and sticks his pinky into his ear.

"Yeah I guess it's okay since that's what you really want. Doesn't really matter to me." Everyone looks in shock but Kazu and Lucas who both take a heavy sigh. Jewel's face lights up as she stands to her feet in pure excitement.

"Really?" Rox nods his head.

"Yeah." Jewel inches closer to Rox's face as he takes a step back.

"Really, really?"

"Uh huh." Jewel inches even closer as her lips are a breath away from touching Rox's lips as he turns his head away looking for a way out.

"Really, really, really?" Rox takes a few steps back but Jewel pursues him as she steps forward not letting him get any distance between them.

"Sure."

"Really, really-?" Kazu immediately comes up behind her and hits her on the head. As everyone looks in shock Rox shakes his head.

"Enough already! He said 'yes' so stop acting like a woman and act like a pirate!" Jewel rubs her head as she looks up at Kazu.

"Ouchie! That really hurt!"

"Shut up! I only gave you a light tap."

"But it still hurt!"

"Suck it up! You're not a kid anymore!"

"I'm not a kid to begin with! And you aren't much older than I am!"

"All the more reason for you to not be so sensitive." Jewel jumps up and bites Kazu on the head as Rox takes a big yawn.

"Whatever. You two play nice, I'm gonna take a nap." Rox immediately falls asleep standing up with his arms crossed as Luffy laughs while the villagers look in shock. Some of the villager's mouths drop open as they point at Rox who has fallen asleep standing up.

"HE REALLY FELL ASLEEP!" Rox's head tilts to the side and he begins to snore as the villagers continue to look in shock. "AND HE'S SNORING!" At that moment, Kazu walks over to Zoro with Jewel still holding on to his head with her teeth. She growls and gnaws at his scalp continuously. As Kazu approaches Zoro, Zoro puts his mug down.

"You ready?"

"Yeah. Now's a good time as any. What about her?" Zoro points to Jewel as Kazu glances at her and makes a face of frustration as he scowls. He whips his hands behind his head and grabs Jewel by the hair. Kazu throws Jewel which launches her into Rox and as she knocks him over and falls on top of him, Rox instantly wakes up.

"Man that was a good nap."

"Rox, beat up that meanie!" Rox looks at Jewel as he scratches his head in confusion.

"Meanie…?"

"Yeah! He threw me!" Jewel points at Kazu who is starting to walk off with Zoro into the forest. Rox watches the two with a serious look as he sticks a toothpick into his mouth from his pocket. Jewel grabs Rox shirt and throttles him back and forth trying to get his attention.

"So what you gonna do Rox? Avenge me Rox! AVENGE ME!"

"Would…you…calm…down…?" Just at that moment, Robin comes up behind Jewel.

"Excuse me, Captain Rox, may I borrow you for a minute?" Rox looks up at Robin and immediately sits up and takes her hand after he tosses Jewel to the side.

"You can borrow me…for a lifetime." Rox grins as he smiles at Robin. Robin chuckles at the humor as she turns to walk away. Jewel looks at Rox in confusion as Rox holds up two fingers at Jewel and walks away with Robin smiling. Jewel pouts her lips and folds her arms as she looks away in anger and runs towards the ship to see Lucas. When Robin and Rox get far enough away from the village so no one can hear them, Robin turns around to face Rox. Rox leans on a tree as he folds his arms over his chest. "So what's on your mind Nico Robin?" Robin takes a deep breath as she turns her head to the side and enjoys a breeze that blows over the island. Her hair is fanned gently as it blows in the wind. Her mind recalls the memory of when Rox held her in his arms and leaned his tall frame down to her ear whispering, 'Aokiji says hey'. She snaps back to reality as she turns her attention back to Rox.

"How do you know Admiral Aokiji?" Rox shrugs his shoulders as he nonchalantly looks at her.

"Cause I'm in the navy." Rox bursts into laughter as Robin looks at him in shock.

"Wait a minute! How are you in the navy when you're a pirate?" As Rox reduces his laughter to a light chuckle he wipes his eyes and then puts a serious look on his face.

"Don't be ignorant of what exists around you Nico Robin. You know more than anyone the tyranny that lies hidden like a snake in the grass within the Navy's declaration of justice. I will be no pawn to destroying innocent lives when they are not a threat to the World Government or Navy, especially those who seek no quarrel. I have my own sense of justice and while I try to fit my definition of justice within the navy, there was a bit of a clash with some of my peers. So for now, I do what I want and judge based on my understanding of the word 'Justice'." Robin nods her head as she puts the tips of her fingers to her chin as she contemplates the situation and what Rox has said.

"Did you cut all ties?" Rox shakes his head.

"No. I'm still in the navy. I just left under my own volition."

"So you plan to return?"

"Of course! Someday…" Robin nods her head as she smiles.

"I see." Robin chuckles to herself as Rox turns his head to look towards Luffy. Luffy is lying down on the ground with his stomach blown up as he rubs his belly.

"I'm gonna take my leave now. Kazu and Zoro should be fighting soon and I want to get my fight with Luffy started. To be honest, I'm tired of waiting myself."

"Hold on, one last thing Captain Rox." Rox stops as he places his right hand on a tree trunk and looks over his right shoulder. "Why are you so interested in Luffy?" Rox smiles as he turns his head back to in front of him and continues walking towards Luffy. Robin watches him walk away towards Luffy and she smiles as she follows behind him. Rox walks up to Luffy and smiles over top of him.

"Hey Rox! Having fun?"

"Yeah Luffy, I'm having a blast. But…I'm ready to fight now." Luffy's smile disappears as he reaches for his hat on the table by stretching his hands to grab it. He sits up and places the hat on his head and hops to his feet. Once he gets to his feet, he bends his knees and turns his hands to fists as he brings them to his waist and his huge stomach flattens out to its normal size.

"Alright! Let's do this." Luffy starts cracking his knuckles with his hand by clenching and releasing the tension.

"Okay. Come with me. We both don't want to get anyone hurt." Luffy nods his head as Rox starts walking towards the forest and Luffy follows him. At this time, Zoro and Kazu have come out of the forest and reached a wide open grassy field with tall grass and wild wheat grass. In front of them, is a huge hill that rolls and leads to a cliff that goes into a ravine.

"Looks like a good spot as any." Zoro says as he turns to look at Kazu. Kazu nods his head as he takes off his black vest. He tosses it on the ground and as it hits the dirt, it makes a hard thud sound on the ground. Zoro immediately looks at the vest and sees Kazu stretching his arms and moving his neck and shoulders. He notices a huge tattoo on Kazu's back that has the letters 'R-A' in a circle. "Seems like you've been holding back all this time."

"Not anymore Roronoa Zoro. You will get the full effect of my swordsmanship. You are now dealing with Kazu Kai, the 'Silent Swordsman'." Kazu reaches around and pulls out the two daggers sheathed in his back and slowly draws them out. When he finishes pulling them out, he slowly turns his body and faces Zoro. Zoro takes out his three swords from their sheaths and gets into a battle stance as Kazu does the same. Kazu flips the blades from pointing away from his body to being pointed towards his body. He bends his knees and turns his body sideways as he turns his head to keep his eyes locked dead center on Zoro. Zoro bends his knees with both of his swords in front of him pointed upwards away from his body. The wind blows whistling through the trees and grass as everything around them grows quiet. Like lighting, the two flash forward towards each other and as they clash in the middle, the force of their swings pushes outward and breaks up the ground kicking up dirt and grass. Zoro has his three swords meeting up high with one of Kazu's daggers as Kazu is off the ground with his hand out in front of him nearly level with his chest. The two push off of each other and run around through the field clashing their blades as the force of their swings kicks up dirt, cuts the air and marks the trees. As Kazu and Zoro's blades touch, the sounds of steel singing can be heard and echo through the open field. The wind comes to a halt as the force of the swings get stronger and tears up the ground even more. After one exchange, the two separate jumping back as their breathing is even and flowing with ease. Kazu takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. "Roronoa…ZORO!" Zoro looks at him with his eyes focused dead on Kazu.

"Kai…KAZU!" The two rush forward again and this time as they get closer to each other at the mid-way distance, Zoro turns his left arm inside to do an upward slash that Kazu blocks with one dagger but Zoro swings his head to bring the second sword behind it to get a slash across the top of Kazu's chest just below his neck. While Zoro is swinging his right arm, Kazu quickly spins off the block and dodges the swing as he takes his left arm and slashes Zoro across his side and they move past each other. The two of them stand with their backs to each other in silence and when the wind blows again, the wounds appear on their bodies. They turn to look at one another as they both smile at each other.

"I think that's a good enough warm-up, don't you?" Zoro smirks as he gets back into his stance from earlier.

"I think you talk too much." Kazu's face shifts from a smile to a serious look as he gets back into the attack stance that he used earlier as well.

"Well, maybe…" Kazu takes off at a higher speed than he ran last time which makes Zoro blink in shock. Zoro quickly tries to maintain his composure as he looks throughout the field to find Kazu. Suddenly blood splatters out of his back and he begins falling forward. Zoro quickly catches himself as he places his hand on the ground in front of him. He turns his head to look behind him and sees Kazu standing behind him with blood dripping down his dagger. Zoro turns his body around and faces Kazu but takes a few steps back.

"I see you have no honor!" Kazu's face changes to a look of disgust.

"You spit on me Roronoa Zoro. So be it. We'll fight by your rules. I won't attack you from behind." Kazu takes off again at a high speed as Zoro searches continuously to find him. Zoro then gets slashed across his leg and he swings his sword to the right to try and catch Kazu but he sidesteps and dashes past Zoro and cuts him again across the waist. Zoro chases after him as Kazu smirks and steps side to side away from Zoro. Zoro then takes his two swords in his hands and raises them above his head.

"72 POUND CANNON!" Kazu's eyes enlarge at the power as he quickly gets out the way of the attack. As it blows past him on his left, the attack cuts up the ground leaving a three foot ditch along the ground. Zoro closes the distance between them and swings his swords. Kazu blocks Zoro's swords with his daggers. As Kazu blocks the attacks, the force from each swing passes over Kazu and puts holes into the ground. Kazu whistles as he sees the display of power and then he pushes off Zoro leaving Zoro wide open.

"CROSS SLASH!" Kazu swings his daggers diagonally across at Zoro which cuts the air. Zoro sees the attack and quickly leans backwards to avoid it but gets nicked on the edge of his right shoulder by the attack. Zoro follows through with the backwards movement by doing a back hand spring. When Zoro gets back on his feet, he stays on one knee as he watches Kazu stand tall and unwavering in front of him. Kazu leaps into the air and as he comes down towards Zoro, Zoro grips his swords and spins around in a circle.

"SANTOURYUU….TATSUMAKI!" As the swords spin around in a circle, it creates a tornado that spins with about 10 feet in diameter. As the wind hits Kazu, the powerful gusts push him back which causes him to lean back and his momentum is slowed down. Kazu smiles as he shifts his body to be standing upright in midair.

"This move won't work against me Zoro! WIND CURRENT SLICE!" Kazu takes his dagger and swings it perpendicular to the funnel of the tornado he's inside and splits the tornado apart. The opposing air currents pop and push Kazu out of the funnel. As he slowly falls to the ground, Zoro stares in utter surprise but he quickly regains his composure and sheaths all of his swords and places his hands on two of them. He grips the handle of the swords as he bends his knees with a sword on both sides of his hips.

"NITOURYUU-IIYA…" Kazu touches the ground with his feet and springs upwards with a bounce on the toes of his feet as he smirks.

"TWIN DAGGER…" Once Kazu's feet touch the ground again, he rushes in a flash towards Zoro as Zoro takes off towards Kazu.

"RASHOMON!"

"ILLUSION STRIKE!" The sound of their weapons clashing is heard followed by three strikes to a body as Zoro passes by Kazu. When the two stop moving, Kazu is further away from where the two crossed paths as his hands are still holding the daggers with his arms behind his body and his legs bended all the way down to the ground. Zoro still has his legs bended with his hands on the swords as if they had never been drawn. Suddenly, a cut opens across Zoro's left thigh and right hip but the one across the hip is deeper whereas with Kazu a deep wound is opened over his left shoulder. Kazu takes a deep breath as Zoro turns around to face him. Kazu slowly gets up from the ground level and turns his head upwards to the sky. As he stares at the cloudless blue sky, the wind blows in a strong gust. Kazu slowly takes his daggers and spins them around in a fast moving circle as he grips them quickly and sheaths him. "Hey Zoro." Zoro looks at Kazu with a puzzled look.

"What?" Kazu slowly twists his body to turn his head to his left to look at Zoro. As Zoro sees his face, he looks in shock. "Why are you smiling like that?" As if the question was never asked, Kazu continues to look at Zoro with the purest expression of happiness on his face.

"If I defeat you, will you tell me what motivates you to be the best?" Zoro slowly looks away from Kazu as he takes out his three swords again and while holding the third up to his lips, he stares straight at Kazu.

"You'll never know cause you won't defeat me." Kazu's face dissipates from happiness to a solemn empty expression.

"Fair enough, I guess. Once I beat you, I guess it won't matter anyway." Zoro closes his eyes and places the third sword into his mouth as he stands firm while Kazu turns his back to Zoro. Zoro sticks his two swords into the ground and grabs the head wrap on his arm and ties it over his head. He slowly places his hands on the swords and grabs them from out the ground. Kazu slowly places his right hand on the handle of the sword on his back. He draws it out and whips it around and points it forward. "In my hand is the power to wield seven stars…I shall not waver or fear this power…I will grip this force and make it bow before me…Heaven's tears fall…Hell's voices are heard…Earth holds their breath…Destroy my enemy and bathe me in their blood, their sorrow, and their pain." In one fluid motion Kazu turns around and takes off towards Zoro. "SEVEN STAR DESTRUCTION!" Zoro's eyes changes and immediately his aura bursts out from within him and takes the form of a Goddess with three heads, and six arms.

"ASURA!" At that moment the aura intensifies to the point where Zoro is the one who looks to have three heads and six arms. In the last second before the two cross paths again, Kazu beams with excitement. Meanwhile, on a different part of the island, Rox and Luffy walk in silence until they arrive at a different section of the beach from where their ships anchored. Immediately, the two begin to distance themselves a bit. At that moment, Lucas sees the two of them and begins walking towards them. Lucas' face shows a look of concern as he starts to approach his captain and Luffy.

"Captain Rox! I finished locking the guy up! I made sure to put sea stone chains on him." Rox doesn't take his eyes off of Luffy who has a serious face about him. Luffy keeps his hand on his straw hat as the wind picks up and blows with a fierceness to it. All three of them turn to look in a direction and look hard. Rox closes his eyes and concentrates hard for a minute as his breathing slows to a bare minimum. As Rox concentrates, he can hear the sounds of swords clashing and the footsteps of Kazu and Zoro's fight. He opens his eyes and smiles knowing that soon their battle will end and that they'll need medical attention.

"Lucas!" Lucas immediately turns his head to his captain. "Go find Kazu. I'm sure him and Zoro will need some help when they finish up. Once you finish helping them, come back here with Chopper." Lucas nods his head and runs off in search for Zoro. Once Lucas has left, Rox makes a fist with his right hand, tightening it as he flexes his arm trying to contain the excitement. Luffy stares into the face of his opponent before him.

"You're no pushover so I won't go easy on you at all because I know you're very strong." Luffy bends his knees and places his right hand on the ground as he keeps his eyes on Rox. He pushes his legs down to begin pumping the blood and he does it two times. "GEAR….SECOND!" Luffy pushes off the ground and springs towards Rox in a flash as the sand on the beach near Rox shoots up off the ground and covers Rox's fist. The sand then changes to pure rock and crystallizes into a gem. As Luffy's punch comes towards Rox face, Rox shifts his body to receive the blow and begins swinging his rock covered fist at Luffy.

"GEM PUNCH!" Luffy's fist hits Rox square in the side of his face as Rox counters with his attack that hits Luffy square in the jaw with an uppercut. After the two attacks connect, the force of each other's blow sends them flying away from each other. They both recover at the same time but Luffy takes off towards Rox.

"JET PISTOL!" Suddenly Luffy's arm flies at Rox who dodges the attack by moving his head to the left and he places his left hand on the ground.

"IVY DEATH!" From within the forest, three vines shoot out at Luffy and grab him in midair as a huge tree trunk emerges from the ground and sprouts a huge agape mouth that lunges at Luffy. As the vines tie him tighter, they drag him into the mouth and once the mouth closes the vines release Luffy inside.

"GUMO GUMO NO…JET BAZOOKA!" Immediately the plant breaks up into tiny pieces as Rox jumps straight at Luffy and punches him hard into his stomach. Luffy coughs up blood as he attempts to counter with a kick but the blow to his body stuns him enough to prevent him from following through. Rox capitalizes with a double fist slam to Luffy's head to knock him straight down to the ground. Luffy hits the ground hard enough to create a small crater in the sand. As Luffy looks up at Rox, he grips his head. "Ow…He can punch really hard…!" Rox plants his feet back on the ground and stands firm as he widens his stance and puts his fists close to his side. Then he raises his left leg like a sumo wrestler preparing to fight.

"QUAKE STOMP!" Rox stomps the ground creating a shockwave that shoots through the ground causing the ground to shake and rumble. Luffy tries to maintain his balance but just can't manage to stand on his feet. Rox dashes towards Luffy and when he gets in front of him, he kicks Luffy in the face to send him flying into a tree trunk. As Luffy's back hits the tree trunk, he bounces off and yelps in pain. "VINE WHIP!" Then a vine comes out of the forest and wraps around Luffy's neck tightly as it begins to strangle him.

"What the-! How are you doing this?" Rox chuckles as he walks slowly towards Luffy as his second gear begins to dissipate away and his once before steaming red skin starts to fade away back to its original cream white color.

"The plant-plant fruit allows me to control all things of this planet's construct. So in turn, I can manipulate plants, rocks and minerals, as well as the water itself. Your rubber power alone isn't enough to defeat me." Rox uses his hand to control the vine to move Luffy away from the tree to the middle of the air as other vines begin to sprout out from the ground and quickly wrap around Luffy to bind his limbs. Luffy then inhales a bunch of air.

"GUMO GUMO NO…FUUSEN!" Luffy blows himself up like a puffer fish and snaps the vines. When he releases the air, he spins around like a top in the air. When Luffy gets on the ground he begins running towards Rox. "GUMO GUMO NO….GAITLING GUN!" Rox quickly takes his arms and holds them out in front of him as the water from the wet sand begins to attach itself to his arms until it forms into a ball in the palm of his hand.

"WATER BULLET!" Rox launches the water ball at Luffy and as it hits his fist, it bursts and blinds Luffy from seeing Rox. When the water mist from the attack clears, Rox is nowhere in sight.

"Where did he go?"

"Up here Luffy!" Luffy looks up and sees Rox coming down with his fist cocked back behind him. Luffy places his left hand on his right shoulder and cocks back his right fist as he stretches it away from his body while spinning it.

"GUMO GUMO NO…."

"GIGATON…." The two shoot their fists out in front of each other.

"RIFLE!"

"ROCK SMASH!" The two fists collide in front of each other and the force of the attacks blows sand everywhere in an outward direction from their fists as the two grit their teeth and grind their fists against each other's. Both of them hold their ground firmly until eventually they both give and fall backwards. Meanwhile, back over in the grassy plains, Kazu and Zoro's match continues. The two of them are cut up so severely, blood outlines their body in several places. Kazu has defensive cuts all over his arms as Zoro has a gash on the left side of his head and several cuts on his neck and legs. Currently, they stand breathing heavy at a distance of about twelve feet apart from each other in full stride steps. Kazu places both of his hands on the sword as he winces from the pain of moving his injured arm. Zoro eyes him closely, looking for the right moment to attack as he stays on his toes ever ready to strike. Kazu takes the sword away from his injured arm holding it with one hand as he stares menacingly at Zoro. Zoro smirks as he thinks to himself that he has the upper hand after their previous exchange. However he can't be too careless because the wounds from his previous battle at Gecko Moria's island has started to re-open. But he smiles to hide the injury knowing full well, this battle will end soon in his favor.

"I have to give it to you Zoro. I didn't think you'd be standing by now." Zoro stays on his toes, tensed and expecting an attack.

"I could say the same to you Kazu. But this fight is over. You won't be able to stop any of my attacks if you can't hold your sword with both hands." Kazu scoffs as his face streaks with anger, denying in any way that he is already claimed the loser.

"This fight is over Zoro…but not for me." Zoro's eyes perk up as at that moment, Kazu takes the sword in his hand and slowly brings it across his body as the blade itself starts getting cocked back behind him on his left. "ZERO IMAGE!" Before Zoro can react to the words Kazu shouts, a burst of wind blows past him as he is stabbed on the right side of his chest. Zoro slowly turns his head to the wound as he sees the sword and Kazu at the end of it. Kazu takes his hand off the sword and turns around to put his back to him. While he turns his back to him, he grabs the sword with his left hand and yanks it out to make blood squirt out as Zoro gets tugged forward and starts to fall to the ground. As Zoro falls forward, Kazu begins to walk away loosely holding the sword in his left hand as the blood on the tip drips to the ground leaving a trail behind him. Right before Zoro's legs touch the ground, he snaps out of falling unconscious and balances himself to fall to one knee with his left hand on the ground. Kazu stops as he takes a glance to look behind him. He whistles again at the marvel of Zoro's will power and places his right hand on the sword as he turns around to face him. Zoro's breathing picks up in harder breaths as he stares at the ground.

"So…fast…." He looks up at Kazu who stands tall looking down at Zoro.

"Can you stand?" Zoro glares at Kazu as he starts pushing himself off his knee to stand up.

"Shut up!" Once he gets back to his feet, he takes a deep breath and turns to face Kazu. He bends his knees again as he sheaths all of his swords and places his hands on the white sheathed sword. He stands up straight keeping his hands on that particular sword as he spins it around slowly while placing it behind his right shoulder. "ITTOURYUU-IIA…" Kazu looks at him questioningly but begins to gets in a defensive stance as he bends his knees and holds up his sword across his body. Zoro takes off at a high speed towards Kazu and as Kazu sees Zoro coming and drawing his sword, he tries to block the attack but being unable to lift his left arm properly halts him from doing so. In turn, he begins to side step but Zoro is already swinging his sword and manages to cut Kazu across his chest as he tries to avoid the attack. "SHISHI SONSON!" The cut opens up as Kazu begins to lose his balance from the pain he feels from the attack. His legs shake as he stumbles backwards but quickly plants his right foot and gathers strength. Zoro turns to see him still on his feet.

"ZERO IMAGE!" For the second time a huge gust of wind blows over Zoro but instead of being stabbed, he is slashed across his left side around his ribs. Both Kazu and Zoro cough blood and spit it out as the two stand with their backs to each other. A moment of silence passes between them as they try to gather their breath. Blood has soaked their bodies as it drips to the ground covering the grassy field like a painted picture in blotches and streaks. The wind blows but comes to a calm as it stops abruptly and leaves everything still like time stopped. Sounds from the animals stopped a long time ago so the eerie silence feels normal to them as the only sounds that can be heard are their breathing. They both turn to face each other at the same time as Zoro grabs his black sheathed sword and draws it out. He puts the third sword into his mouth as he takes the two swords in his hands and starts spinning them around in a circle. Kazu starts gathering his feet from underneath him as he prepares to make his move.

"SANTOURYUU….OUGI…." Zoro says before Kazu yells from the top of his lungs as he begins to gather his strength into his right arm and legs.

"ZERO IMAGE…BLACKHEART CROSS ATTACK!"

"SANZEN SAEKAI!" The two lunge toward each other and make their exchange of blows as blood splatters up into the air when the two meet. After they pass each other, they come to a stop and stand tall. At that moment, Lucas begins to come out of the forest opening they came from. When he sees the two of them, he stares in shock at what he sees.

"You've got to be kidding me…! There's just…no way!" Back over on the beach, Rox and Luffy are breathing hard after their exchange of attacks as both are trickling blood from their head. Luffy immediately jumps into the air and spins his body forward towards Rox.

"GUMO GUMO NO….STAMP!" Luffy's foot flies towards Rox to attempt to stomp him in the head but Rox covers his head with his arms and manages to block it even though the pain shoots through his arms. Then Luffy retracts his foot and shoots his hands to the ground as he spins his body continuously in front flips as he comes to the ground. "GUMO GUMO NO…ONO!" Luffy's feet then stretch outwards and becomes a spinning blade. Rox quickly jumps to the side but the attack grazes his body. The attack continues onwards and strikes a deep cut into the ground. Rox raises his hand into the air.

"WATER VINEYARD!" Vines pop out of the ground in the sand from where the water was at high tide as it begins to suck up all the water that is within the sand. Luffy looks at him questioningly as Rox makes his way over to the vines and places his hands on them. As Rox touches the vines, the water starts covering his hands as it spreads up his arms covers his entire body until he is inside a ball of water. Luffy looks at him in surprise as he marvels at Rox moving towards him inside a ball of water.

"That's so cool!" Rox grins as he clasps his hands together.

"If you think this is cool, then you'll really love this." Luffy grits his teeth as he tenses his body to prepare for an attack. "HYDRA FURY!" The ball of water then slides off of Rox body and takes the shape of three water hydras that move in a circle around Rox. As the light reflects off the water, images of scales can be seen on the hydras as their eyes glare with malice intent at Luffy and they roar and hiss at him. The water hydras charge at Luffy as Luffy dodges them and tries to avoid their strikes. As one tries to bite him, Luffy jumps out the way but another comes at him from behind and slams him down to the ground. As Luffy hits the ground he stretches his hand back.

"GUMO GUMO NO…BULLET!" Luffy thrusts his fist forward into the head of one of the hydras to make it crumble apart and turns into a puddle of water on the ground. Immediately, the spot on the ground dries up afterwards. Luffy stands to his feet as the two other hydras charge at him. "GUMO GUMO NO…"

"WATER BULLET!" Just then a huge ball of water hits Luffy in the side of the head, drenching him as he stumbles from the sudden impact. As he turns to see Rox still standing by the vines, he begins to rush him but the water hydras bite down on him and encase him in water. Suddenly steam begins to emit as the hydras start screeching in pain and slowly burst into a cloud of steam and evaporate. When the steam clears, Luffy stands facing Rox in his second gear again.

"JET BAZOOKA!" Rox is hit hard into his stomach which makes him fall to one knee. Luffy dashes in front of Rox. But as soon as Luffy gets close, Rox cocks back his left fist and uppercuts Luffy straight in the jaw. The blow reels Luffy but he quickly recovers from the attack. Luffy and Rox both cock back their right fist. "GUMO GUMO NO….JET RIFLE!"

"WATER RELEASE!" Rox takes the blow that Luffy deals to him straight into his face but Rox doesn't move as he grits his teeth and closes his eyes. When he opens them up, a huge burst of water erupts from the ground around Luffy and shoots him skyward into the air. Immediately his second gear phases out again as Luffy quickly bites his thumb while he's still rising in the air.

"GEAR…THIRD!" Luffy blows hard and his right arm blows up to a huge size. He shifts the air through his body and returns it back to his right arm as it changes to the size of a giant. "GIGANTE PISTOL!" As Luffy starts falling to the ground, he extends his arm forward as he builds his momentum to the ground. Rox looks in shock as he sees Luffy coming down straight at him.

"Surely we can talk about this…" Rox places his hand on the ground and immediately all the dirt and sand around him begins to cover his entire body and hardens to a hard thick cut of stone. "ROCK BODY!" As Luffy's fist is within distance, Rox jumps straight into the air towards Luffy's fist. "BEDROCK HEADBUTT!" Rox's head becomes covered in stones like a helmet as he rams his head into Luffy's fist in midair. As the two collide, Luffy's fist breaks apart the rock covering Rox's body but it flies straight into Luffy's face and chest cutting him up as well as damaging his hand while Rox takes a lot of damage from Luffy's attack. The force of the two attacks shoots enough sand away to create a five foot wide, eight feet deep crater in the ground below them. As the power from the attacks fades, the two slowly fall back down to the ground. When Luffy reaches the ground, his body has shrunk to being only two feet tall.

"Ouch! My hand hurts!" Luffy runs around blowing on his hand as Rox watches him breathing pretty heavy in astonishment. When Luffy finishes running around, he returns back to his normal height. "All right! Now I can properly beat you. I just got an idea for a new attack." Rox grins as he looks at Luffy while bending down to prepare to attack.

"I'm ready for it. I'll defeat you with my best move." Just then a soft noise is heard between them. Luffy starts looking around as he tries to figure out what the noise is. Rox looks at Luffy questioningly as he soon realizes the noise is close by to him. He turns his head to look for the source as well and soon sees the den den mushi that was in his pocket is on the ground next to him. He picks it up and holds a hand up in front of Luffy. "Wait one second Luffy!" He answers the call and turns his back to Luffy. "This better be important! I'm in the middle of something here!"

"Ah! Lt. Brenan! We've been trying to reach you for quite some time now."

"What is it?"

"Well you see, we are moving a lot of people to Navy HQ to prepare for the execution. We're gonna need you posted in the New World until things are complete because we're stretched thin." Rox takes a heavy sigh as he glances at Luffy who is standing still looking at him.

"Fine. I'm on my way but I got to stop by Impel Down to bring in a criminal first. So be sure to tell the warden I'm on my way and I want his bounty too."

"Yes sir. I will inform Magellan that you're on your way." Rox hangs up to end the call and places the den den mushi back into his pocket. As he turns around, Luffy gets ready to fight.

"Sorry Luffy, but I have to go." Luffy looks at him in shock.

"What do you mean you have to go? WE HAVEN'T FINISHED OUR FIGHT YET!"

"Oh it's far from finished Luffy. But I have to go to the New World immediately and you're coming there eventually if you truly want to be pirate king. So, we'll finish our fight there in the New World." Luffy turns his head and puckers his lips.

"You just want to run away because I was gonna win." Rox looks at him in shock as he points his finger at Luffy.

"You weren't gonna win!" Luffy continues to look away at him.

"Coward." Rox grits his teeth as at that moment, Lucas appears in between the two of them.

"All right you two. Captain, what's going on?" Lucas looks at Rox as Rox stares back with a serious face. At that moment, the rest of Luffy's crew comes out of the forest as Usopp waves at Luffy.

"Hey Luffy!" Luffy turns to everyone with a huge smile as they run over to each other. Chopper is holding both Kazu and Zoro in his arms who are both out cold. Chopper lays them down on a part of the beach that wasn't affected by Luffy and Rox's fight. As he lays them down, Kazu and Zoro start to wake up.

"Chopper…? What are you…?" Zoro turns his head and sees that he's on the beach and the ships aren't too far away from him. "How did I get out here?" Chopper looks in shock as he begins screaming.

"OH NO! ZORO HAS AMNESIA! QUICK ZORO! WHAT'S YOUR NAME?" Chopper begins placing a stethoscope on Zoro's chest and head as Zoro shoos him away.

"Stop it Chopper! I can remember my name just fine!"

"Would you two quiet down? Are you guys _always_ this noisy after a fight?" Zoro's eyes perk up as he remembers the last moments of the fight.

"That's right! I won." Kazu turns to look at Zoro as if he was crazy.

"HAH! Your doctor better re-examine your head because _I__WON_!" Zoro turns his head and looks at Kazu as Kazu stares right back.

"It was a draw. Neither of you won."

"What!" Kazu and Zoro say in unison as the two of them along with Chopper turn to look at Lucas.

"What do you mean it was a draw Lucas?" Kazu says as he starts getting up. Lucas puts his hand on Kazu's shoulder and looks at him straight in the eyes.

"I was there Kazu. I saw the conclusion of the fight."

~Flashback~

"SANTOURYUU….OUGI…." Kazu yells from the top of his lungs as he begins to gather his strength into his right arm and legs.

"ZERO IMAGE…BLACKHEART CROSS ATTACK!"

"SANZEN SAEKAI!" The two lunge toward each other and make their exchange of blows as blood splatters up into the air when the two meet. After they pass each other, they come to a stop and stand tall. _"__Right__at__that__moment,__I__had__just__come__out__of__the__forest__to__find__out__what__the__outcome__was.__When__you__two__finished__those__moves,__you__both__passed__out__at__the__same__time__falling__to__the__ground.__I__was__in__such__a__shock__at__the__amount__of__blood__that__was__everywhere__and__how__much__damage__you__two__had__done__to__each__other,__I__didn__'__t__think__there__was__enough__time__to__go__get__anyone__because__I__thought__one__of__yall__would__die.__However__I__was__able__to__stop__the__bleeding__from__the__both__of__you__long__enough__to__go__to__the__village__to__grab__Chopper.__"_

~End of Flashback~

Zoro and Kazu both look solemn as Lucas pats Kazu's shoulder. "Come on! Captain said we got to go to the New World right now."

"WHAT FOR!" Lucas puts his hands up as he backs away slowly.

"Hey, I'm just the messenger!" Kazu turns to look at Rox who is heading to the ship. "Rox! Why are we leaving? I didn't finish settling things with Zoro." Kazu begins running towards Rox as Rox sighs heavily.

"I didn't finish things with Luffy either but I have to go."

"Then why are we leaving?" Kazu jumps up on to the ship and gets in Rox face as Rox whips his arm around Kazu's shoulder to put his lips close to Kazu's ear.

"Navy business dude. We'll be going to the New World which is where we planned to go from the start and we can finish our business with the Strawhat crew there." Kazu scoffs as he knocks Rox arm away.

"You know this sucks!" Rox nods his head in agreement.

"I know, I know." Rox turns his attention to Lucas as Kazu walks over to the edge of the ship. "Come on Lucas! Get everyone on board!" Just then the other crew members of Rox's crew comes out from below deck as well as Jewel who runs over to Rox and hugs him. Rox returns the affection as Lucas gets on board. He then turns his attention to Luffy and his crew as he places his hands on the railings of the ship. "LUFFY! HURRY TO NEW WORLD!" Luffy looks at Rox and grins from ear to ear.

"You bet!" Kazu comes up behind Rox and stares at Zoro. Zoro sees Kazu and stares right back as the anchor pulls up. The two share a silent exchange of unvoiced words as Rox turns his body to the rest of the crew.

"Move it people! NEXT STOP…THE NEW WORLD!" Everyone cheers as they begin lowering the sails. "Hey Kazu, you want to help us out a bit here?" Kazu keeps his eyes on Zoro as he slowly takes off the sea stone sheath around his waist and drops it to the floor of the ship. He turns his hand towards the sails and immediately a huge gust of wind blows into the sails and begins pushing the ship out into the water. Luffy and the others look in shock as they watch Kazu push the ship with his devil fruit power. Zoro's face is unfazed as he watches Kazu sail further away along with Luffy and the others. When Kazu and Rox are out of sight, Usopp turns to Luffy.

"Well so long to them!" Nami looks at Luffy and then turns to Zoro.

"Do you think we'll see them in the New World Luffy?" Luffy smiles as he continues looking at the ship.

"Of course! Don't you think so Zoro?"

"Yeah. We still have business with that crew."

"Alright! Everyone, let's go! Nami, guide us to the next island!"

"Okay Luffy."

"Sanji, make me some food!"

"Okay Luffy. I'll be sure to use the flavors from that sake I got from the villagers with the meal." The Strawhat crew begin heading to their ship as the villagers come out of the forest and see them off. Moments later, they raise up their anchor and loosen the sails as the wind picks up and sends them off on their next adventure.


End file.
